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63D CONGRESS DocuMENT 
eS cast in HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES No. 1693 


DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 
UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIREcTOR 


BULLETIN 611 


GUIDEBOOK 


OF THE 


WESTERN UNITED STATES 


PART A. THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 


WITH A SIDE TRIP TO YELLOWSTONE PARK 


BY 


MARIUS R. CAMPBELL AND OTHERS 





WASHINGTON 
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
oe) 


PrincripaAL Divisions oF GEoLocic TIME.4 


[A glossary of geologic terms is given on pp. 199-203.] 





























Duration, accord- 
Era. Period. Epoch. Characteristic life. ing to various 
estimates. 
Millions of years. 
Ploistos “Age of ” Animals and plants of 
eistocene ge of man.’”’ Animals and plants o 
Quaternary.| “(Great | modern types. 
; Ice Age). 
Cenozoic (re- 
cent life). 1 to 5. 
aaeene “Age ofmammals.’”’ Possible first appear- 
Tertiary. eet ance of man. Rise and development of 
‘ Oligocene. highest orders of plants 
Eocene. 8 Pp ; 
“‘ Age of reptiles.” Rise and culmination 
Cretaceous. () of huge reed reptiles (dinosaurs), of shell- 
fish with complexly partitioned coiled 
2s shells (ammonites), and of great flyin; 

Mesozoic (in- J : > reptiles. First appearance (in Jurassic) | 4 4 19 
<rrirge Uraee. ) of birds and mammals; of cycads, an : 
ife). order of palmlike plants (in Triassic); 

and of angiospermous plants, among 
Triassi (b) which are palms and hardwood trees 
Sere (in Cretaceous). 
Permian. ae: : 
‘¢ Age of amphibians.”’ Dominance of club 
mosses (lycopods) and plants of horsetail 
Denncviene and fern types. Primitive flowering 
Carbonifer- Me plants and earliest cone-bearing trees. 
ous, : Beginnings of backboned land animals 
(land vertebrates). Insects. Animals 
lh : with nautilus-like coiled shells (ammon- 
Missi s s 1 p- ites) and sharks abundant. 
pian. 
‘Age of fishes.” Shellfish (mollusks) also 
Devonian. (0) abundant. Rise of amphibians and land 
plants. 

Paleozoic Shell-forming sea animals dominant, espe- 
(old life). : cially those related to the nautilus (ceph- 

alopods). Rise and culmination of the 
Silurian. (>) marine animals sometimes known as sea | 17 to 25. 


lilies (crinoids) and of giant scorpion- 
like crustaceans (eurypterids). Ruse of 
fishes and of reef-building corals. 





Shell-forming sea animals, especially ceph- 
alopods and mollusk-like brachiopods, 
Ordovician. (>) abundant. Culmination of the buglike 
marine crustaceans known as trilobites. 
First trace of insect life. 





; Trilobites and brachiopods most charac- 
Cambrian. (>) teristic animals. Seaweeds (algee) abun- 
dant. No trace of land animals found. 














: First life that has left distinct record. 
_ | Algonkian. () Crustaceans, brachiopods, and seaweeds. 
Proterozoic 
eee tae 
ife ‘ : 
: Crystalline | No fossils found. 50+. 
Archean. rocks, 











a The geologic record consists mainly of sedimentary beds—beds deposited in water. Over large areas 
long periods of uplift and erosion intervened between periods of deposition. Every such interruption in 
deposition in any area produces there what geologists term an unconformity. Many of the time divisions 
shown above are separated by such unconformities—that is, the dividing lines in the table represent local 
or widespread uplifts or depressions of the earth’s surface. / 

b Epoch names omitted; in less common use than those given. 


o ae 


W173 
75.4 


a A ? 
f 4 “ Aud 7 


PREFACE. 


By Grorce Oris SMITH. 


The United States of America comprise an area so vast in extent 
and so diverse in natural features as well as in characters due to 
human agency that the American citizen who knows thoroughly his 
own country must have traveled widely and observed wisely. To 
‘know America first’ is a patriotic obligation, but to meet this obliga- 
tion the railroad traveler needs to have his eyes directed toward the 
more important or essential things within his field of vision and then 
to have much that he sees explained by what is unseen in the swift 
passage of the train. Indeed, many things that attract his attention 
are inexplicable except as the story of the past is available to enable 
him to interpret the present. Herein lie the value and the charm of 
history, whether human or geologic. 

The present stimulus given to travel in the home country will 
encourage many thousands of Americans to study geography at first 
hand. To make this study most profitable the traveler needs a 
handbook that will answer the questions that come to his mind so 
readily along the way. Furthermore, the aim of such a guide should 
be to stimulate the eye in the selection of the essentials in the scene 
that so rapidly unfolds itself in the crossing of the continent. In 
recognition of the opportunity afforded in 1915 to render service 
of this kind to an unusually large number of American citizens, as well 
as to visitors from other countries, the United States Geological 
Survey has prepared a series of guidebooks! covering four of the 
older railroad routes west of the Mississippi. 

> These books are educational in purpose, but the method adopted is 
to entertain the traveler by making more interesting what he sees from 
the car window. The plan of the series is to present authoritative 


information that may enable the reader to realize adequately the 
| 





! Guidebook of the western United States: Part A, The Northern Pacific Route, 
with a side trip to Yellowstone Park (Bulletin 611); Part B, The Overland Route, 
with a side trip to Yellowstone Park (Bulletin 612); Part C, The Santa Fe Route, 
with a side trip to the Grand Canyon of the Colorado (Bulletin 613); Part D, The 
Shasta Route and Coast Line (Bulletin 614). 


3 


4 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


scenic and material resources of the region he is traversing, to com- 
prehend correctly the basis of its development, and above all to 
appreciate keenly the real value of the country he looks out upon, 
not as so many square miles of territory represented on the map in a 
railroad folder by meaningless spaces, but rather as land—real estate, 
if you please—varying widely in present appearance because differing 
largely in its history, and characterized by even greater variation in, 
values because possessing diversified natural resources. One region 
may be such as to afford a livelihood for only a pastoral people; 
another may present opportunity for intensive agriculture; still 
another may contain hidden stores of mineral wealth that may 
attract large industrial development; and, taken together, these varied 
resources afford the promise of long-continued prosperity for this or 
that State. 

Items of interest in civic development or references to significant 
epochs in, the record of discovery and settlement may be interspersed 
with explanations of mountain and valley or statements of geologic 
history. In a broad way the story of the West is a unit, and every 
chapter should be told in order to meet fully the needs of the tourist 
who aims to understand all that he sees. To such a traveler-reader 
this series of guidebooks is addressed. 

To this interpretation of our own country the United States 
Geological Survey brings the accumulated data of decades of pioneer- 
ing investigation, and the present contribution is only one type of 
return to the public which has supported this scientific work under 
the Federal Government. 

In the preparation of the description of the country traversed by 
the Northern Pacific Route the geographic and geologic information 
already published as well as unpublished material in the possession 
of the Geological Survey has been utilized, but to supplement this 
material Mr. Campbell made a field examination of the entire route 
in 1914. Information has been furnished by others, to whom credit 
is given in the text. Cooperation has been rendered by the United 
States Reclamation Service, railroad officials and other citizens have 
generally given their aid, and other members of the Survey have freely 
cooperated in the work. For the purpose of furnishing the traveler 
with a graphic presentation of each part of his route, the accom- 
panying maps, 27 sheets in all, have been prepared, with a degree of 
accuracy probably never before attained in a guidebook, and their 
arrangement has been planned to meet the convenience of the reader. 
The special topographic surveys necessary to complete these maps 
of the route were made by J. G. Staack, C. L. Sadler, J. L. Lewis, 
N. E. Ballmer, and W. O. Tufts. 





GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


PART A. THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE, WITH A SIDE 
TRIP TO YELLOWSTONE PARK. 


By Marius R. CAMPBELL and others. 


INTRODUCTION. 


If his journey to the Pacific coast begins at one of the great cities 
on the Atlantic seaboard, the traveler, when he reaches St. Paul, the 
eastern terminus of the Northern Pacific Railway, will have gone 
nearly halfway across North America. He will have traversed or 
perhaps gone around the Appalachian Mountain region and then 
crossed the prairie States, which, in wealth and population, form in 
themselves an empire. 

St. Paul is in the prairie region, but the boundary between the 
prairies and the Great Plains is vague and undefined, and the tray- 
eler will at no place perceive the change from prairie to plain or from 
the East to the West. On leaving St. Paul he first passes across 
rolling prairies, interspersed with forests of pine and hardwood trees, 
and within a short distance these prairies give place to the vast tree- 
less plains which, stretching a thousand miles west of the Mississippi, 
rise almost imperceptibly to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. 
The annual rainfall diminishes in the same direction from 28 inches 
at St. Paul to only half that amount in central Montana, and the 
traveler, as he goes westward, will note more and more of the features 
that he has habitually associated with the West. Prairie dogs and 
jack rabbits are seen; one by one the flowers and shrubs of the Mis- 
sissippi Valley disappear and are replaced by those of a semiarid 
country; trees grow only on the moist bottom lands along the streams; 
intensive cultivation is possible only in the valleys, though the up- 
lands are being brought into use by dry farming and are yielding 
fair crops of the more hardy grains. 

Throughout much of the region traversed the face of the country 
has been greatly modified by the vast ice sheets of the glacial period 
which covered the northern part of the continent and left immense 
deposits of loose material on the surface of hard rock in the northern 

5 


6 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


part of the United States. The history and the phenomena of this 
glaciation are considered in detail at several places in this book. 

The general features of the country west of the Mississippi are 
represented on Plate I. When, after crossing the Great Plains, the 
traveler reaches the foothills of the Rocky Mountains he will have 
attained a height of 4,000 feet above the sea, a height reached by few 
peaks in the Eastern States outside of the Adirondacks and the White 
Mountains., The Rocky Mountains form a great, irregular, rough- 
hewn “backbone” for the continent. They comprise many groups 
of ranges, in which some peaks in Montana and Idaho reach a height 
of 12,000 feet above sea level and some in Colorado rise more than 
14,000 feet. 

The western mountains, like the eastern, are the worn remnants of 
upward folds or crumples or of upheaved blocks of the fractured 
earth crust, but, unlike the eastern mountains, which are geologically 
old, the western mountains are geologically very young. They are 
therefore higher, for since they were uplifted there has not been time 
for ice, rain, heat, frost, and wind to wear them down to lower levels. 

West of the Rocky Mountains lies a broad interior basin, in the 
northern part of which, with its inclosing mountains, there is sufficient 
rain and snow to maintain the flow of the great Columbia River; 
but in the southern part, in what is known as the Great Basin, the 
mountain streams find no outlets to the sea, their waters, so precious 
for irrigation, being soon lost in the thirsty lowlands, and the feeble 
or intermittent rivers of the valleys carry their waters down to be 
evaporated in alkali marshes or on saline deserts. 

The part of the Columbia River basin or plateau that is traversed 
by the Northern Pacific Railway is made up of lava flows, among 
the greatest in the world, which in comparatively recent geologic 
time spread like a fiery flood over hundreds of thousands of square 
miles; and a wide expanse of hard, dark volcanic rocks, whose sur- 
face is here and there cut deeply by streams, shows the enormous 
extent and volume of these eruptions. The part of this old lava 
plain that is crossed by Columbia River is the most arid region tray- 
ersed by this route. The precipitation in this region is sometimes 
not more than 6 inches annually, but despite the small rainfall 
the uplands have become the great wheat-raising country of the 
Northwest. 

The last great natural feature to be crossed by the traveler is the 
Cascade Range, which separates the interior basin from the region 
of Puget Sound. This range is a broad upland that stands from 6,000 
to 8,000 feet above the sea, and here the evidences of volcanic activity 
continue to be conspicuous. On the flanks of the range rise the snow- 
covered peaks of Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, and other cones, 
which were once active volcanoes, pouring forth streams of lava and 


ee 


— 





U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 





BULLETIN 


611 


PEAREa 


MICHIGAN 


hy 
3 
“Ss 





U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


oh eee ecm oes meme oe 
MeND ft * , 





Pa celia” 








Piste 





Ep a oe eye ey 
NR eon 6 
fr ee 


RELIEF MAP SHOWING SURFACE FEATURES OF THE WESTERN PART OF THE UNITED STATES. 


Areas shown on the sheets of the route map are Indicated in red. 


eet ghia “ 


BULLETIN 611 


PLATE |! 


MICHIGAN 





THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE, i 


showers of rock fragments. Of these great conical masses, built up 
by successive lava flows and by the accumulation of rock fragments 
blown from the craters, the highest is Mount Rainier, towering 14,408 
feet above Puget Sound, from which it presents a magnificent spec- 
tacle, its upper slopes covered by great streams of moving ice, the 
largest glaciers in the United States south of Alaska. 

On emerging from the Cascades the traveler enters a broad lowland, 
which is separated from the Pacific Ocean by the Olympic Mountains, 
but which contains Puget Sound with its many branching waterways, 
one of the most remarkable bodies of salt water on the globe. 


Norr.—For the convenience of the traveler the sheets of the route map in this 
bulletin are so arranged that he can unfold them one by one and keep each one in 
view while he is reading the text relating to it. A reference is made in the text to 
each sheet at the place where it should be so unfolded, and the areas covered by the 
sheets are shown on Plate I. A list of these sheets and of other illustrations, showing | 
where each one is placed in the book, is given on pages 205-207. <A glossary of 
geologic terms is given on pages 199-203 and an index of stations on pages 209-212. 


ITINERARY. 


The traveler who is interested in the geologic history of this 
country—a history that reaches back into the dim and misty past, 
to a time long before Father Hennepin first saw the Falls of St. 
Anthony and the Mississippi Valley in 1680—will find much to attract 
his attention about St. Paul and Minneapolis. If he has only a 
few hours at his disposal he can easily obtain a general view of the 
valley of the Mississippi and the rocks composing its bluffs from the 
Robert or Wabasha Street Bridge in St. Paul, both of which are 
within a few minutes’ walk of the Union Station. If he chooses the 
Wabasha Street Bridge, which in some respects affords a better 
view, he will see that the Mississippi is flowing in a broad valley 
from 100 to 200 feet deep. In some places the walls of the valley 
are composed of solid rock, but in others they are made up of loose 
material, such as clay, sand, or gravel, which forms either large 
masses or is spread as a thin coating over the rocky slopes. As the 
valley has been cut in the hard rock by the river, it is a record of 
stream carving and of the climatic and geographic conditions under 
which the carving was done. Not only are the recent events of geo- 
logic history recorded in the size and shape of the valley, but the much 
earlier events in the history of the globe have left a record in the solid 
rock itself—a record that, when correctly read, tells of the presence 
of a sea in which limy muds were accumulating or along the shore 
of which sand was washed back and forth by the waves or drifted 
into heaps by the wind. Every one is more or less familiar with 
the history of Minnesota during the last 250 years, or since the white 
man first visited the region, but few know anything of the far more 
ancient history recorded in the rocks and in the hills and valleys of 
the region. It is to this ancient history, dealing with the time 
before man is supposed to have existed upon the globe, that the 
reader’s attention 1s now invited. | 

The bluff upon which the Wabasha Street Bridge rests is com- 
posed almost entirely of white sandstone (St. Peter‘), which is very, 
very old, but despite its great age is so soft that it can be crushed in 
the hand. Streams of water flowing through the rock have carved 
ereat underground channels in it, and more recently boys have dug 
caves in the soft sand along the river front directly below the bridge. 


1 The rocks exposed at the surface in the vicinity of St. Paul and those revealed 
by deep drilling are shown in the table on page 9. The natural order of the forma- 
tions named in the table, from top to bottom, is shown by the order in which the 


8 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 9 


Jonathan Carver, in describing his journey to this region in 1766, 
mentions a large cave in the St. Peter sandstone about 30 miles 
below the Falls of St. Anthony, a cave called by the Indians the 
“Dwelling of the Great Spirit.” In this cave they held religious 
ceremonies, and near it they buried their dead. When the sandstone 
is examined under a magnifying glass it is found to be composed of 
beautifully white translucent grains of quartz, resembling rock 
candy except that the fragments are round instead of angular. 
The even lines of bedding, which can be scen from either of the 
bridges mentioned, show that the sand must have been laid down in 
water, but the forms of the individual grains show with equal cer- 
tainty that the sand before it was washed into the ocean and deposited 
along the shore was blown about by the wind and perhaps heaped 
into large dunes, such as are now seen around the head of Lake 
Michigan south of Chicago. : 

The St. Peter sandstone, on account of its purity, is well adapted 
to glass making and in many places it is used for that purpose. It 
extends from St. Paul southward as far as central Arkansas and east- 
ward as far as Detroit, and probably once extended much farther 
north, but in that direction it has been eroded—worn away by frost, 
rains, and streams—until all trace of it is lost. On account of its 
wide distribution and the purity of the materials that compose it, 
this deposit of sand is one of the most remarkable in the world. 

Above this sandstone, if stone it may be called, lies a thin-bedded 
limestone known as the Platteville, which can be seen at the entrance 
to the Wabasha Street Bridge and which was formerly used about 
the ‘twin cities’’ for building material. The stone occurs, however, 
in thin layers and does not stand the weather well, so that very 





names are printed. The place of each of the larger units of rock or of time (as Cam- 
brian, Ordovician) in the general geologic column is shown in the table on page 2. 





aie Thickness 
Ordovician: in feet. 
Faone limestone (exposed )..s2.'......-.-.e-e4-n esses 15 
Piette POX MUROU eon sks. endo e pace ols Ges se ee = 3 60 
Platteville limestone (exposed). ....-.-....--.-------- 30 
Paget @bbe Sali atone, FeX PORGC J... eee eee eel es 150 
ERI te a ae ce cers ec tion ale of ose ae fe 60 
(wiht: nea ETRE Eee ental pega) CMS AR adh deb SE Bahl eel a pe 100 
_— 415 
Cambrian: 
BRECON LONGR., on Sidtlone) de tho tl Loto Gerewee a4 75 
emer weCnen tOrmatiOne rr: <0... eseustent. Dit enh seo J 100 
Franconia sandstone, Dresbach sandstone, and under- 
RPC HIV AY eicedts tiie Eb.» «lee Ud aya % <item es 500 
675 
Peeemiamae Noting (APOn IAN eyes 1 al deere o'nfol= bn cn etme ed wed ip bay: 
Granite. as Sees 


10 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


little of it is now used. This limestone contains here and there 
fossil sea shells, which show clearly that the sandy shore of the St. 
Peter epoch finally sank and was covered by the sea, The shells of 
the animals that inhabited this sea sank to the bottom when the 
animals died and were buried in the limy mud that later became 
hardened into limestone, which preserved not only the shells but all 
the beautiful ornamentation on their surfaces. 

If the traveler can spend a day or two here instead of a few hours, — 
he may take many pleasant rides by trolley or automobile into the 
surrounding country to places of historic and scenicinterest. Whether 
his visit is one of business or one of pleasure, he should not fail to 
see old Fort Snelling and the Falls of Minnehaha. Fort Snelling 
stands on the green, tree-shaded bluffs that overlook the peaceful 
valley of the Mississippi, and it is hard to realize that when it was 
established, only a few years after Zebulon M. Pike made his journey 
to the source of the Mississippi,! it was in the heart of the Indian 
country. It is doubtful if at that time anyone dreamed that near its 
site would rise such cities as St. Paul and Minneapolis. In the 
early days Fort Snelling was the starting point of several military 
expeditions that were sent out to explore the great Northwest. 

The Falls of Minnehaha, which are about 24 miles farther north, 
offer none of the sinister suggestions of war that still linger round 
the fort; on the contrary, they have an atmosphere of love and 
romance, and the journey of Hiawatha and Minnehaha, as related 
by Longfellow, is fittingly commemorated by a bronze group at the 
head of the falls. (See Pl. II.) 





1 Soon after the acquisition from France 
of Louisiana, which included most of the 
territory west of Mississippi River, Lieut. 
Z. M. Pike was commissioned by Presi- 
dent Jefferson to explore the new terri- 
tory and to find the source of the river. 
When Pike reached the mouth of St. 
Peter (now Minnesota) River, in 1805, he 
recognized the strategic importance of 
the point for military purposes and pro- 
cured from the Indians title for the Gov- 
ernment to the land from the mouth of 
St. Peter River to and including the 
Falls of St. Anthony. In his report on 
the explorations he recommended that a 
fort be established on the bluff between 
St. Peter and Mississippirivers. Nothing 
came of his recommendation until Feb- 
ruary 10, 1819, when John C. Calhoun, 
Secretary of War, ordered the Fifth In- 
fantry, under Col. Henry Leavenworth, 





to establish headquarters at this place. 
Col. Leavenworth reached the mouth of 
St. Peter River on September 24 of the 
same year, but instead of occupying the 
bluff recommended by Pike he camped 
across the river, where the village of 
Mendota now stands. In 1820 Col. 
Leavenworth was relieved by Col. Josiah 
Snelling, who determined to build a per- 
manent post on the spot originally se- 
lected by Pike. The corner stone is sup- 
posed to have been laid on September 10, 
1820, and the post was occupied by the 
troops in 1822. The fort was originally 
called St. Anthony, but the name was 
changed to Snelling at the recommenda- 
tion of Gen. Winfield Scott, who visited 
it while on a tour of inspection in 1824. 
Fort Snelling has been continuously oc- 
cupied as a military post from 1822 to the 
present time. sf 


U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 611 PLATE Ii 





MINNEHAHA, ‘!‘LAUGHING WATER.” 


Height of fall, 54 feet. Water tumbles over St. Peter sandstone, which is gradually being cut back toward Lake 
Minnetonka. Photograph by Haynes, St. Paul, Minn. 


U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 611 PLATE Ill 





A. VALCEY Clty, No DAK.) FROMTHE“ “HIGH EINES 


The river meanders broadly on the glacial drift which partly fills the old rock-cut valley. Photograph by Johnson 
& Olson, Alexandria, Minn. 





B, THE “HIGH LINE” ACROSS THE VALLEY OF SHEYENNE RIVER, N. DAK. 


Height of trestle (150 feet) indicates depth of valley. Photograph by Johnson & Olson, Alexandria, Minn. 


f 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE, Bl 


Fort Snelling and the Falls of Minnehaha can be reached from St. 
Paul by several routes, but whoever wishes to see the rocks and the 
way they have been carved by the streams should take the Snelling 
ear, which follows the Mississippi upstream for about 6 miles directly 
to Fort Snelling. The roadway is on a bench or terrace nearly half 
a mile wide, which stands about 100 feet above the river and on a 
part of which the business portion of St. Paul has been built. The 
terrace is underlain by the Platteville limestone, which may be seen 
at, a number of places, and it is evidently a remnant of a valley that 
existed there before the present channel of the river was excavated 
in its floor. The accompanying diagram (fig. 1) is a cross section of 
the valley as it appears to-day. If the channel of the river should 
be filled to the broken line .it would represent the valley floor as it 
was before the present channel was cut, when the river was flowing 
at the level of the terrace. As the rocks are not exposed at any 
place in the bottom of the valley it is evident that the old rock-cut 
valley has been filled by sediment (alluvium) brought down by the 
stream, but the depth of this filling has not been accurately deter- 
















4 
= 
K 
: 


yy WM MU ED, 
ULL Oe Ui yyy Yj 


GHETTO MEI: 
CC 









FIGURE 1.—Section across Mississippi Valley between St. Paul and Fort Snelling, Minn., looking east. 
The broken line represents the bottom of the valley before the present channel was cut. 


mined. A deep well sunk in St. Paul northeast of the Union Station 
struck solid rock 100 feet below river level. At some remote time 
the river channel was therefore at least 100 feet deeper than it is 
now, and since that time it has been filled by mud and sand up to 
the level of the present river bottom. 

At Fort Snelling the main valley continues to the southwest, but 
it is occupied only by Minnesota River,’ a stream manifestly too 
small for the valley in which it is flowing; and, on the other hand, 
Mississippi River above Fort Snelling is out of proportion to the 
narrow gorge in which it is confined. To even the most casual 
observer the streams appear to be misplaced; the larger stream is 
flowing in the smaller valley and vice versa. The size and relation 
of the river valleys about St. Paul show clearly that they have under- 
gone many changes which do not occur in streams developing under 
normal conditions. Changes of this kind have taken place in many 
of the streams in the northern part of the United States. They are 


1 Featherstonhaugh says that the In- | white settlers the name St. Peter was 
dian name of this river was Minnay Sotor, | applied to it; but later the Indian name 
Meaning turbid waters. By the early | wasrevived, with the spelling Minnesota. 


12 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES, 

due to the invasion of this country at various epochs in the past by 
ereat glaciers which filled existing valleys with the mud, sand, and 
gravel that they brought in from the north. (See footnote on pp. 
26-30.) When the ice vanished the streams found different courses, 
developing lakes and falls, features characteristic of a newly estab- 
lished drainage system. 

Thus the original drainage about St. Paul consisted of a stream 
flowing southeastward through the city and following the present 
course of Mississippi River to a point 10 or 12 miles below St. Paul, 
where it was joined by a large stream from the west, which crossed 
the present river valley 4 or 5 miles above Fort Snelling. At that 
time there was no stream flowing from Fort Snelling to St. Paul. 
This area was then a rocky upland. 

When the western ice sheet (see route map, sheet 1, p. 20) melted 
back from this region, all these old stream channels were filled with 
glacial materials, and the principal streams were developed along 
their present courses. After a time the glacier, which came from the 
north or northwest, melted back into the Red River valley, and 
Lake Agassiz (ag’a-see) came into existence. (See footnote on p. 32.) 
Warren River, the outlet of this large body of water, occupied the 
present valley of Minnesota River and received Mississippi River as 
a tributary from the north. This great river flowed across the rocky — 
upland between Fort Snelling and St. Paul and cut a broad valley, 
upon the floor of which St. Paul has been built. Where it joimed 
the old valley, at the site of St. Paul, there was a waterfall many 
times the size of St. Anthony. ‘This fall gradually receded upstream 
until it reached the other old valley above Fort Snelling, and thus 
the inner rock gorge shown in the diagram was cut. 

The gorge of the Mississippi from Fort Snelling to the Falls of St. 
Anthony, which are a short distance below the station in Minneapolis, 
shows from its extreme narrowness that it is new and that it has — 
only recently been carved out of the solid rock by the swiftly flowing 
stream.! In fact, the process of carving the gorge of the Mississippi 
is still in operation, or was before it was arrested by the hand of man. 





1Many take it for granted that the sur- 
face features of the earth have always been 
the same as they are to-day, that the val- 
leys have always been valleys and the 
hills and mountains always eminences 
overlooking them. The incorrectness of 
such an assumption, however, can be 
realized by watching any small stream or 
rill after or during arain. It will be seen 
that the stream is busily engaged in cut- 
ting the sand or clay over which it flows 


and carrying it down the valley to be 
dropped where the current slackens in 
some pond or lake. Every fragment, as 
it is loosened from the bed of the stream, 
is carried or rolled along by the water a 
few inches or a few feet and then dropped, 
because the stream is unable to move it 
farther, as a tired man lays down his bur- 
denamomenttorest. By dropping many 
grains the power of the water is restored 
and the grain of sand is again picked up, 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. Le 


Rivers always deepen their channels toward the head of the stream, 
and the Falls of St. Anthony have doubtless receded slowly from a 
point near the edge of the main valley at Fort Snelling to their present 
position. As the rate of recession of this fall has apparently been 
fairly uniform, and as the distance which the fall has retreated is 
well known, it has been used in making estimates of the time that has 
elapsed since the river first started to cut its gorge near Fort Snelling. 
According to the best estimate, the fall has been 12,000 years in 
traveling from the vicinity of Fort Snelling to its present position, 
and it has been 8,000 years since glacial Warren River ceased to flow 
and the present river system came into existence. 

When the receding Falls of St. Anthony reached and passed the 
mouth of Minnehaha Creek that stream plunged into the deepened 
gorge and the Falls of Minnehaha originated. Since that time they 
have been worn back about 400 feet to their present position. Each 
day some particle of rock is dislodged or worn away, and gradually 
the falls are working back up the stream. In the course of time they 
will reach Lake Minnetonka, and then this beautiful sheet of water 
will be drained, but that catastrophe will occur so far in the future 
that the owners of the hotels and summer cottages that line its shore 
need not be alarmed. 

Lake Minnetonka is also the direct result of the occupation of the 
country by the ice, as are the 10,000 other lakes which Minnesota is 
reported to contain. ‘Their mode of origin, which is extremely inter- 
esting, will be discussed in connection with a description of the many 
other lakes that will come into the traveler’s view as he continues his 
westward journey. Lake Minnetonka is easily reached by trolley 
from both St. Paul and Minneapolis, and an afternoon or evening 
spent along its beautiful shores makes a most acceptable break in a 
long transcontinental journey. White Bear Lake, about 6 miles 
north of St. Paul, bears the same relation to that city as a summer 
resort that Lake Minnetonka bears to Minneapolis. 

The site of the present city of St. Paul is said to have been a favorite 
gathering ground for the Sioux Indians long before white men invaded 





as the man recovers strength and resumes | alone has no cutting power. The grains 
his burden, and is carried or rolled along | of sand and the pebbles that are swept 
for a short distance farther. This opera- | along by the current act as a great rasp, 
tion is repeated many, many times, until | scouring and cutting the hard rocks over 
the grain of sand is finally transported to | which they are carried. Thus grain by 
the sea and finds a resting place upon its grain the rocks are worn away and grain 
sandy shore. by grain the material is carried to the sea. 

The method by which a stream cuts | The process, though slow, never stops; 
hard rocks is not so obvious as that by | and in time it carves such gorges as that 
which it cutssand and clay. The cutting | of the Mississippi and even the deeper 
is not done by the water itself, for water canyons found in the western mountains. 


14 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


their hunting grounds, and it is probable that for many generations 
Indian villages stood within what are now the city limits. ' When the 
white men came they located at Mendota, on the south side of Mis- 
sissippi River near the mouth of the Minnesota, and this was the 
first settlement in the State. What is now the city of St. Paul was 
settled more recently, and its origin and the manner in which it 
received its name are interesting events in the history of this region." 


The State of Minnesota has a gross area of 84,682 square miles, of 
which 3,824 square miles is covered with water. It was admitted to 
the Union in 1858, and its population according to 
the census of 1910 was 2,075,708. The earliest set- 
tlements were made along Mississippi River, which 
was then the main artery of commerce in this part of the country. 
From this valley the incoming people spread to other valleys and 
to the general upland between the principal streams. This was essen- 
tially an agricultural population, and it has covered all the southern 
and western parts of the State. The northeastern part was origi- 
nally a land of swamps and heavy timber, not at all inviting to the 
man in search of a farm, and for this reason all of that part except a 
small area about the head of Lake Superior remained for a long time 
comparatively unknown. 

While the agricultural lands of southern Minnesota were being 
converted into prosperous farms, the natural water power at the 
Falls of St. Anthony attracted the attention of millers, and great flour 
mills sprang up to grind the wheat that came pouring in from the 
surrounding region. At the same time the pine forest began to be 
utilized, and soon the great mills were denuding the country of its 
valuable timber. 

The last great industry to develop was the mining of iron ore in the 
northern part of the State. 
value than the products of either agriculture or manufacturing, it 
has probably brought the State into public notice to a greater degree 
than either of the others, for Minnesota is now the greatest producer 
of iron ore in the country, having in 1913 an output of nearly 
39,000,000 long tons, out of a total for the entire country of 62,000,000 
tons. 


Minnesota. 


1 When the military post of Fort Snell- 


evicting all the roughs and in demolish- 
ing was established, in 1820, the bounda- 


ing their cabins. The evicted persons 


ries of the reservation had not been deter- 
mined and consequently the post was 
overrun with all sorts of camp followers. 
In 1839 the limits of the reservation were 
fixed and efforts were made to eliminate 
the undesirable element, but not until 
May 6, 1840, were the troops successful in 


crossed the river and started a hamlet 
near the spot where the Union Station at 
St. Paul now stands. This was soon 
graced by a Roman Catholic chapel called 
St. Paul’s, which gave its name to the 
village. 
nings the city has developed. 


OO — EE EE EE EE eee eee 


eee SS eS 


ee es a 


Though the output of the mines is of less © 


The first iron mines in the State were opened in the Vermilion ~ 


From such inauspicious begin- 


TIE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 15 


range'in 1884. The great Mesabi range was opened in 1892 and the 
Cuyuna range in 1911. 

The values of the products of the State are approximately as fol- 
lows: Manufactures (1909), $409,000,000; agriculture (1909), $275,- 
000,000; mining (1913), $70,000,000. 

The locations of the centers of commerce and industry in this State, 
as in many others that were settled in the early days, were determined 
largely by the availability of water transportation. Thus St. Paul, 
which stands at the head of navigation on Mississippi River, and 
Duluth, which is at the upper end of Lake Superior, were the principal 
points. The use of Mississippi River as a commercial highway has 
gradually diminished, until to-day it has little or no effect on the com- 
merce of the Northwest; but St. Paul and Minneapolis still continue 
to form a center for all the northern transcontinental railroads and 
also for those that connect central Canada with the United States. 
Lake Superior still holds its own as a water route for heavy freight— 
iron ore and grain going east and coal and manufactured articles going 
west—and the places at which most of this traffic concentrates are 
Duluth and Superior, at the extreme western point of the lake. 


On leaving the Union Station at St. Paul (see sheet 1, p. 20) the 
Northern Pacific Railway follows a small ravine almost due north for 
about 2 miles, gradually climbing from an altitude 
of 732 feet at the station to more than 900 feet at 
the highest point within the city limits. In passing 
over this part of the road the traveler unacquainted 
with glacial topography will have an opportunity to become familiar 
with some of its peculiarities—its knobs and basins composed of mate- 
rials which the moving ice carried or pushed along and deposited near 
its margin. 

The region was at one time covered (as shown on the map of Minne- 
sota on sheet 3, p. 32) by what is here called the middle ice sheet, 
which, as it came down from the north, brought into this region clay 
and fragments of red rock from the country north of Lake Superior. 
This body of ice extended southward beyond St. Paul and on melting 
left its load of reddish clay, sand, gravel, and bowlders, commonly 
known as drift, spread over the surface like a blanket. Later another 


St. Paul. 


Elevation 732 feet. 
Population 214,744.2 


1 The term range, as applied to a de- 
posit of iron ore or to the ore and the rocks 
with which the ore is associated, is lim- 
ited to the Lake Superior region. It 
doubtless resulted from the fact that in 
the first districts developed the rocks as- 
sociated with the ore are hard and form 
ridges or low ranges. From these districts 
the term has been carried to the other 


deposits of iron ore in the region, until 
now they are all known as ranges, even if 
the surface is flat and swampy. 

2 The figures for population in this book 
are those of the United States Census of 
1910. For unincorporated places the fig- 
ures give the population of the election 
precinct, township, or like unit; such 
figures are marked with an asterisk ¢*). 


16 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


large glacier, the western ice sheet, invaded Minnesota from the north- 
west and spread a mantle of gray drift over part of the area already 
covered by red drift. The boundary between these two drift sheets 
passes through St. Paul but is not a sharp line of separation. 

When the front of the western ice sheet rested on the hills about 
St. Paul streams of water issued from the ice and carried with them 
vast quantities of sand and gravel, which they deposited beyond the 
ice front. One of these streams left the ice mass in the vicinity of 
Minneapolis and spread a great sheet of sand and gravel over the 
country upon which St. Paul has been built. It is mainly these 
outwash materials that can be seen from the Northern Pacific trains 
as they pass from St. Paul to Minneapolis. The gravel was deposited 
irregularly and now forms knobs that are separated by kettle-like 
depressions. Lake Como, on the right (north) ' of the railway, lies 
in a basin of this character. 

Descending somewhat from the high land the railway crosses the 
gorge or canyon cut by Mississippi River in the Platteville limestone 
and St. Peter sandstone. These rocks were formerly well exposed 
here, but they have been obscured by the construction of mills and 
the slumping in of soil from the top of the bluffs. While crossing 
the river the traveler can see on the right what remains of the Falls 
of St. Anthony, after a large part of the water has been diverted for 
the development of power. Further erosion of the rock has been 
prevented by the building of a low dam at the crest of the fall, and 
about 35,000 horsepower has been generated for running the great 
flour mills that line the river bank for some distance. 

On the left are the buildings of the University of Minnesota, 
which occupy a commanding position on the east side of the river. 

The rocks rise toward the north, as shown by fig- 
Minneapolis. ure 2 (p. 17), even more steeply than the grade of 
Elevation 854 feet. the stream, and the top of the St. Peter sandstone 
Roy ae ue eeerarich Gee O vor ey iets Platteville limestone appear higher 

in the canyon wall than they do at Fort Snelling. 
Immediately after crossing the river the train enters the Union Station 
at Minneapolis, to receive other travelers bound for the far West. 

North of Minneapolis the railway again crosses Mississippi River, 
but here there is no gorge, the river flowing in a shallow valley in 
the drift-covered plain. Just beyond Northtown, on the right (east), 
the St. Peter sandstone is visible for the last time. This outcrop 
lies at considerably higher level than any outcrop of the sandstone 
in the gorge below the Falls of St. Anthony, indicating that the 
beds of rock rise northward more steeply than the surface of the 





' The terms right and left refer to the westbound journey. 


2 The figures giving distance from St. Paul are taken from the Northern Pacific 
Railway folder of 1915. 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 17 


ground. As this northward rise continues up the Mississippi until 
the underlying granite is brought to the surface about St. Cloud it 
is probable that in the past the St. Peter sandstone and associated 
beds extended farther northward than at present. They were, how- 
ever, worn away by the weather, the streams, and the ice, until now 
the railway passes over their beveled edges onto lower and lower 
formations toward the north, as shown by figure 2. 

The Great Northern and Northern Pacific railways operate the 

line from Minneapolis to St. Cloud jointly. At Coon Creek a branch 

of the Great Northern turns nearly due north and 
Coon Creek. joins a line of the same system from St. Cloud to 
Elevation 893 feet. Duluth. In this part of the valley the surface is 
St. Paul 23 miles. 

composed largely of sand and gravel washed out 
from the glacier when its front lay a short distance to the north- 
west. The fine part of this material when dried was picked up by 
the west winds and carried over the country to the east, forming 
sand dunes which, with intervening marshes, still characterize this 
part of the country, as 
shown on the map. 

The succession of 
events during the several 
invasions of this country FIGURE 2.—Diagram showing northward rise of the rocks in 
by the ice and the various the vicinity of Minneapolis, Minn. 
materials deposited by the ice sheets are described in the footnotes 
on pages 26-30. 

Tor nearly 100 miles the railway follows the valley of the Missis- 
sippi, here a broad and flat depression much of which has the appear- 

ance of a level plain; but in places the low hills on 
Anoka. both sides approach the river and the valley is con- 
Elevation 904 feet. fined by fairly definite bounding walls. About 
Ae epat oo ike Anoka the floor of the valley consists of a gently 

undulating plain. The river has cut its channel but 
little below the general surface, and it seems to wander over the plain 
without plan or purpose, except to discharge its waters southward. 
The valley is well cultivated, and the glacial hills and wooded banks 
of the river are just sufficient to break the monotony of its even 
surface. 

Although no rocks are exposed about Anoka, deep drilling for 
water has shown that the glacial drift there is about 80 feet thick and 
that the underlying rock is probably a part of the Dresbach sand- 
stone. (See footnote on p. 9.) About Anoka flowing wells obtain 
water from this sandstone, and in the southeastern part of Anoka 
County millions of gallons are pumped from it daily to St. Paul for 
the city supply. 

95558°—Bull. 611—15 


NORTH 





2 





20 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


amount of it was used in the new State capitol. The granite is hard 
and resistant, forming the rapids in the river and the rough topog- 
raphy that marks the valley for some distance. 

The town of St. Cloud (see sheet 2, p. 26) lies on the opposite side 
of the river from the railway, so Bas the traveler can see only the 
station and a few houses. A rapid in the river near 
this place is utilized to produce power for a large 
milling industry. Here the main line of the Great 
Northern Railway crosses the river, but a branch of 
that road leading from St. Cloud to Duluth is crossed 
by the Northern Pacific train a short distance beyond the station. — 

At Sauk Rapids the low granite and drift hills that border the 
valley on the right (east) approach so close to the river that there is 
room only for a few streets and the railway between 
the hills and the river. Masses of granite can be seen 
in the river channel and the resistance of this rock 
has produced the rapids at this place. Rock of the 
same kind is quarried in the bluffs some distance 
back from the river and is brought to the main line over a short 
spur for shipment. Above the rapids the river flows quietly between 
low wooded banks, or rather in a slight depression in the bottom of 
the broad valley. 

Although the hills are less precipitous beyond Sauk Rapids, the 
presence of granite in the vicinity of Watab station is attested by 
great, bowlders of this material that were evidently picked up by 
the glacier and distributed along the valley, and also by old quarries 
that. are faintly discernible on the left (west). 

The traveler is now approaching the place where Pike’s party 
wintered in 1805-6 on their memorable trip to the source of the 
Mississipp1.' 


St. Cloud. 


Elevation 1,050 feet. 
Population 10,600. 
St. Paul 76 miles. 


Sauk Rapids. 


Elevation 1,034 feet. 
Population 1, 745. 
St. Paul 77 miles. 





1 As soon as Louisiana had been ac- 
quired from France by the treaty signed 
at Paris on April 30, 1803, President 
Jefferson took steps to have the newly 
acquired country thoroughly explored. 
He personally planned the expedition to 
the Pacific coast which was conducted 
by Lewis and Clark (see p. 47) in 1804- 
1806 and other expeditions by Lieut. 
Zebulon M. Pike to the headwaters of 
the Mississippi and to the great South- 
west. Pike’s search for the source of the 
Mississippi took him over ground with 
which the traveler is now somewhat 
familiar, and an account of the trip may 
be of interest. 


The country through which Pike trayv- 
eled was at that time fairly well known, 
but the earlier explorations had been 
made by French and English adven- 
turers who were using every means to 
further the interests of their respective 
Governments. It had now become the 
property of the United States, and 
Jefferson wanted first-hand informatior 
not only regarding the geography of the 
country but also regarding the attitude 
taken toward the new owner by the Indiaz 
tribes and the trappers and traders whi 
gathered furs from this vast wilderness. — 

Pike left St. Louis on August 9, 1800 
with 1 sergeant, 2 corporals, and 17 pri 


=a + = 


SHEET No. | 


30 MINNESOTA 








: 
Scale 500,000 
Approximately 8 miles to | inch ay? 
; j 5 id 15 Miles 50! 
$) of 1.9 5 10 15 20 25 Kilometers 
Contour interval 200 feet 


ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 


® 
a ff The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 


v4 Bethel 





Le: Waite Bea. 
“A? Lake 







bez) 
v7 nN 
| 35 ‘= 
at FAS 3 
Hes 










ines 
spe %e gtenemadbnss 


Ree Fes Dw SeeEe he 
O sheargenrse wae 





° j ‘5 
Min 4 oY Boner f 
a C « 
c f TEN 
~ i 


ak 


P / gah 6 ic ga Fe 
Ye XRed dfitt io Sie 


\\g? F | iti 


{ The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles 








| 
| 
| 


| 











b°30/ ; oases eri de ne Oh eee 





GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 


OF THE 


NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 


From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 


Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
Sheets, from railroad alignments and_ profiles supplied by 
the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
information collected with the assistance of this company 


UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 
David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 


1915 


Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 
lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 
Sheet of that name. 





BULLETIN 611 





94° (Sheet No2Z2) 













NORTHERN 
-_ 
P. 









Y 7, : : 
ce, Arve 
Gin 


t Michael ## on 
ome ° Cowley, 





Vel oe 






















: 163 A Stream deposits (alluvium) } 
bee B Sand dunes and marshes 
C Glacial river bottoms and terraces { 
: = uaternary 
D Glacial outwash sand and gravel Q : 
E Gray drift of western ice sheet 
| 


F Red drift of middle ice sheet 





Underlying rocks (represented by 
heavy lines and patterns) 





Thickness 


in feet ee 





Limestone, thin-bedded (Platteville) 30 
Sandstone, soft, white (St. Peter) 150 


G 4 Magnesian limestone (Shakopee 
ame dolomite) 60 


ee 
Magnesian limestone (Oneota 


M dolomite) 100} a) 
H_ Granite Archean ,o" 
@ 


ae 








j f Shale (Decorah) 60) ~~ i a 


“al River 


Rm, £4. G24 
we 


Sl 0, sf & e 
F See SPQ SL & 
{ EXPLANATION oD) a Lange oS 
i go Na lapepentenes \ 
Loose surface materials ate pe “Cif re 













































~ o Bethel 


SHEET No. 1 


MINNESOTA 
se) Se 





1 
Scale 500,000 
Approximately 8 miles to | inch Ae 


\ 5 i0 16 Miles 


of 6 190 5 10 15 20 25 Kilometers 
Contour interval 200 feet 
ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
¢ The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles 


The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 









ss) ie igh 
Based ay 
WO 


; % 
Wea Ae ee ee ee 


- 
OF 


a on 





ee 
4 
lagi wchiss pes 






















oat fh 
be 
Ser a 
















THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 21 
Between Watab and Rice the railway runs in a flat valley that 
extends as far as the eye can reach. It is well cultivated, and the 
fields of grain and potatoes are broken only by some 
small lakes that are to be seen on the right of the 
track, but these have low shores and are not par- 
ticularly attractive. As the train glides through mile 
after mile of waving grain or pasture fields, with here 
and there a farmhouse nestling beneath the shadow of some ancient 
oak, it is hard to realize that a little more than a century ago this 
/was a wilderness in which roving bands of Indians found only a 
scanty subsistence and trappers and traders made journeys with the 
greatest hardship and discomfort. 
Although there are no exposures of rock between Rice and Royal- 
ton, the route map opposite page 26 shows many isolated outcrops 
: of granite and slate; and it will be noticed that all 
the areas of granite lie east of a line passing nearly 
through Royalton and that all the hard rocks which 
appear at the surface west of that line are slates or 
schists (for definition see footnote on p. 155) with the 
‘exception of one exposure of Cretaceous shale on the west side of the 
iriver nearly opposite Royalton. 
| A short distance beyond milepost 95 a branch of the Soo Line 
(Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway), extending from 
'Brooten to Duluth, crosses the valley and the Northern Pacific track 
by a long, high fill. North of Royalton, on the right, some rather 
prominent morainic hills give a pleasing variety to the landscape; 
jand at Gregory the traveler is about opposite the point where Pike’s 
/party spent the winter of 1805-6. 


Rice. 


Elevation 1,086 feet. 
| Population 262. 
St. Paul 90 miles. 








. Royalton. 


| Elevation 1,103 feet. 
| Population 676. 
) St. Paul 97 miles. 








finally reached the vicinity of Little 
Falls, but here the river was so rough that 
he decided it was useless to take the boats 


'vates. He found settlements and vil- 
}lages as far up the river as Prairie du 
|Chien, but above that place there was 


/no white settlement and only scattered 
| trading posts of the various fur companies. 
He reached the mouth of St. Peter (Min- 
nesota) River on September 21, and 
spent some time visiting the Indians and 
acquiring for the Government the title to 
100,000 acres of land, including the site 
of Fort Snelling and the Falls of St. 
Anthony. 

| He then portaged around the falls and 
proceeded up the river, but at many 
places he had considerable difficulty in 
getting his boats over the rapids. He 





farther, so on October 16, 1805, he went 
into winter quarters on the west bank of 
the river about 4 miles below the present 
town of Little Falls. 

Pike with a few companions pushed on 
afoot and endeavored to find the source 
of the great river. He succeeded in a 
general way in settling the question, 
though he did not discover Lake Itasca. 
Pike returned to Little Falls on March 6, 
1806, and on April 10 the entire party 
embarked once more, reaching St. Louis 
on the 30th. 


yp GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


Taken all in all, the Mississippi Valley, in which the train runs 
from Minneapolis to Little Falls, is one of the richest and most 
attractive valleys in the State. 

From Little Falls lead two branch lines of the Northern Pacific, 
one running up the east bank of Mississippi River to Brainerd and 
thence * to International Falls, on the northern 
boundary of Minnesota, and the other turning to the 
as clones Oe left and running to Morris, near the western edge of 
St. Paul107 miles, the State. The falls in the river are produced by 

hard slate and schist and by diorite (molten mate- 
rial that was forced up and into the sedimentary rocks and that 
has since been consolidated, forming a hard, dense, dark rock) of 
Archean age. (See table on p. 2.) These rocks are not massive like 
the granite at St. Cloud and so they do not make good building 
material, but they are as hard or harder and form a persistent obstacle 
to the easy flow of the river. The falls are of great commercial 
importance, as they furnish 10,000 horsepower, which is utilized by 
sawmills having a capacity of 70,000,000 board feet of lumber 
annually, flour and paper mills, and an electric-light plant. | 

Here once lay the margin of a great evergreen forest that stretched 
wild and unbroken to Duluth and the falls of Sault Ste. Marie, but 
now only afew pine trees can be seen here and there along the railway, — 
for most of them have disappeared in the insatiable maws of the — 
great lumber mills. Little Falls is noted among archeologists as a 
place where a large number of flint implements, belonging to an early 
race of men, have been found. 

At Little Falls the traveler crosses Mississippi River for the last 
time in his westward trip; he will soon pass out of the Mississippi 
drainage basin and enter another whose waters find an outlet to the 
north. After leaving the river the train passes through a country 
that is typically glacial in all its features. The hard rocks are covered 
by drift varying in thickness from 35 to 400 feet. Owing to this thick. 
cover the present surface of the ground gives no indication of what is” 
beneath, and for many years it was supposed that this swampy coun- 
try, covered only with brush and scrub oak, was of no value whatever. 
After some of the great deposits of iron ore in Minnesota and Wiscon- 
sin had been exploited it was found that the best way to prospect for 
iron ore in this region was with the magnetic needle. Many parts of 
Minnesota were tested unsuccessfully, but in 1895 it was found that 
the magnetic needle was affected in this area, and drilling has shown 
that it is underlain by a large body of iron ore. This deposit is now 
known as the Cuyuna (ki-you’na) iron range and is one of the three 
important iron ranges of the State. This range (see map of Cuyuna 


Little Falls. 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC 


ROUTE. 28 


range on sheet 2, p. 26), as now prospected and developed, extends 
from Aitkin, about 27 miles northeast of Brainerd, 


Randall. 


Elevation 1,200 feet. 
Population 195, 
St. Paul 118 miles. 


southwestward to the vicinity of Randall. 
55 miles long, but its width has not been fully deter- 
mined. No mining is done near this line of the 


It is about 


Northern Pacific Railway, but several mines are 


operated some 40 miles to the northeast.’ 


Little farming is carried 








1 Whoever wishes to see something of 
iron mining in Minnesota should make a 
short trip from Little Falls or Staples to 
Crosby or Ironton, on the Duluth line. 
The Pennington mine, which is within 
easy walking distance of either of these 
towns, consists of a large open pit from 
which the glacial drift was first stripped 
away and the ore then mined by steam 
shovels. The ore is hematite, an iron 
oxide, and has resulted from the deep 
weathering or decomposition of a slaty 
sedimentary rock that was originally rich 
in iron carbonate. The sedimentary 
rocks strike about N. 50° E., are folded 
closely, and dip at high angles. The 
workable deposits are vertical or steeply 
dipping lenses, which generally have a 
maximum width of 400 or 500 feet and an 
average depth of about 300 feet, but the 
maximum known depth is about 1,000 
feet. Some of the lenses extend for more 
than half a mile along the strike. The 
ores, some of which are soft and some hard, 
are in the main non-Bessemer—that is, 
they contain too much phosphorus to be 
converted into steel by the Bessemer pro- 
cess, which is one of the processes gener- 
ally used. Some of the ores contain con- 
siderable manganese. 

The traveler wishing to make a more ex- 
tended excursion into the iron country 
may go from Little Falls or Staples to 
Duluth and take either the Duluth, 
Missabe & Northern Railway or the 
Duluth & Iron Range Railroad to one of 
the great iron-producing towns on the 
Mesabi range. This range is about 100 
miles long and 1 to 3 miles wide. The 
most productive part is served by a trolley 
line which runs between Hibbing and 
Eveleth, making all the mining towns 
between easily accessible. The Hull- 
Rust open pit at Hibbing is the largest 





iron mine in the world, producing in 1913 
nearly 3,500,000 long tons of ore.» A de- 
scription of the iron ranges is given by 
W. H. Emmons, State geologist of Minne- 
sota, in the following paragraphs: 

The iron ore of the Mesabi (me-sah’be) 
and Cuyuna ranges is contained in the 
Biwabik (be-wah/bick) formation, named 
from one of the iron-mining towns in the 
Mesabi range. This formation consists of 
ferruginous cherts, iron ores, slates, iron 
silicate, and carbonate rocks, with a small 
amount of coarse detrital material at its 
base. It grades upward and in places 
laterally into more slaty rocks, known as 
the Virginia slate; and it is underlain by 
the Pokegama quartzite, consisting mainly 
of quartzite but containing also conglom- 
erate at its base. These three formations 
are generally known as the Animikie 
(a-nim‘i-kee) group and belong in the 
upper part of the Algonkian system as 
exposed in this region. All these rocks 
were laid down after the close folding 
which affected the lower Algonkian rocks, 
consequently the formations of the Animi- 
kie group are not on edge but generally 
dip at low angles. 

The Biwabik or iron-bearing formation 
extends along the Mesabi range (see map 
on sheet 2, p. 26) for itsentirelength. Its 
average thickness is about 800 feet, but 
owing to the prevailing low dips the width 
exposed varies from a quarter of a mile to 
3 miles. The great bulk of the formation 
is ferruginous (iron-bearing) chert, with 
varying amounts of amphibole (asbestos), 
some lime and iron carbonates, and bands 
and shoots of iron ore. Associated with 
the chert, mainly in the middle zone, is 
the iron ore, which occupies about 5 per 
cent of the total surface area of the forma- 
tion. Throughout the iron-bearing for- 
mation, particularly in its upper part, 


94 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


on in this region, and the country is covered with a dense growth of 
scrub oak. 

For some distance beyond Randall the country consists largely of 
Swamps and scrub-oak uplands, but north of Cushing the surface 
becomes rougher, consisting of knoblike hills with 
swamps or lakes between them. When seen from 
some commanding eminence the country appears to 
be a maze of more or less regular conical hills among 
which the railway turns and twists to find a level path- 
way. As the traveler proceeds he will note that the depressions be- 
tween the hills become more pronounced, and when he is within a mile 
of Lincoln, or at milepost 126, he can see on his right one of the largest 
depressions in the region, occupied by Lake Alexander. Evidently 
the character of the submerged surface is much the same as that 
around the lake, for the surface of the lake, although extensive, is 
broken by morainic islands that add greatly to the charm of the scene. 

The rough topography reaches its culmination near Lincoln, where 
the hills range in height from 100 to 150 feet and are very steep. As 


Cushing. 


Elevation 1,288 feet. 
Population 313.* 
St. Paul 123 miles. 


described in the footnote on pages 26-30, the morainic 


Lincoln. 


Elevation 1,304 feet. 
St. Paul 129 miles. 


material forming these hills was brought by a great 
glacier (the middle ice sheet) that pushed into this 
region from the northeast. 


It extended only a little 


beyond Mississippi River, and the rough topography about Lincoln 
is due to the deposition of a part of its terminal moraine. 
Lincoln is mainly a summer resort and is an attractive place for 


those who enjoy boating and other aquatic sports. 


The wooded 








are thin layers of slate and paint rock, the 
paint rock usually resulting from the 
alteration of the slate. 

At the east end of the range, near Birch 
Lake, the iron formation has been con- 
siderably metamorphosed in consequence 
of the intrusion of granite to the north and 
of gabbro to the south. As a result con- 
siderable amphibole has been developed 
in the ferruginous rocks, magnetite has 
segregated into layers, and the rocks have 
become hardened. 

Thin beds of conglomerate and shale 
of Cretaceous age, lying nearly horizontal, 
cap the various Algonkian and Archean 
formations. The basal beds of the Creta- 
ceous locally carry detrital iron ore de- 
rived from the weathered Biwabik forma- 
tion. 

Only small portions of the Biwabik 
formation are rich enough to constitute 
iron ore. These occur in isolated masses 





along the eroded surface of the formation 
and are generally not over 200 feet thick, 
although some are thicker. The work- 
able depositsare secondary concentrations 
due to the action of surface waters, which 
have leached out the silica and some 
other elements and have left the iron in 
a more highly concentrated form. Con- 
centration of this nature, in places to 
which water solutions have found more 
ready access, has been going on through 
long geologic periods. That it was well 
advanced in Cretaceous time is shown in 
the detrital zone of the Cretaceous rocks, 
in which iron ore is abundant in the form 
of polished pebbles. 

The geologic conditions in the Cuyuna 
range appear to be almost identical with 
those in the Mesabi range, described 
above, but as the Cuyuna range has been 
only slightly developed its geology can 
not yet be described in detail. 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 


29 


islands in Lake Alexander afford an almost unlimited number of 

camping places and sites for summer cottages. 
The strong morainic topography continues for several miles be- 
yond Lincoln but gradually becomes more subdued, and even the 
gently rolling ground that is noticeable around Phil- 


Philbrook. 


Elevation 1,269 feet. 
St. Paul 135 miles. 


brook soon gives place to a country that is flat and 
swampy as far as the eye can see. 


Philbrook is sup- 


posed to stand on the dividing line between the red 
drift of the middle ice sheet and the gray drift of the western sheet, 
but no distinction between the two drift sheets can be observed from 


the car window. 


From Philbrook the land continues flat and swampy to Staples, 
which is a division point and one of the main junctions on the 


Staples. 


Elevation 1,298 feet. 
Population 2,558. 
St. Paul 141 miles. 


1 As early as 1853 the Government made 
a survey to determine the best location 
for a Pacific railroad, and one of the routes 
examined and recommended is practi- 
cally that which the Northern Pacific fol- 
lows, but after the survey was made the 
undertaking seemed so great that capital 
could not be found with which to make 
even a beginning. On the completion of 
the Union Pacific Railroad in 1869 the 
faith of the public in the success of trans- 
continental roads seems to have revived, 
and in 1870 the construction of the North- 
ern Pacific line was actually begun. 
Work was started at the two extremities— 
near Duluth, which was to be the eastern 
terminus, and between Kalama, on Co- 
-lumbia River, and Tacoma, the western 
terminus in Washington. In Minnesota 
the rails were laid in 1870 as far as Brain- 
erd, on Mississippi River, 30 miles east 
of Staples, and in 1871 were extended 
entirely across the State. 

At that time Duluth, on account of its 
location on one of the Great Lakes, was 
considered the most desirable place to 
connect with the East. Duluth is a 
convenient port for the westward traf- 
fic in coal and other heavy materials 
and for grain shipments eastward to the 
seaboard, but it then stood in a great 
wilderness, without railway communi- 


railway. Here the line from St. Paul joins the origi- 
nal main line of the Northern Pacific from Duluth.! 
The country west of Staples is as flat as that to 
the south, over which the traveler has just passed, 


cation and at the head of a lake closed to 
navigation by ice for five months of the 
year. The Northern Pacific Co. early 
recognized that water transportation was 
losing its importance and that in the 
future St. Paul, with its unlimited pos- 
sibilities of railroad connection with 
Chicago, was the natural eastern terminus 
of the road. Accordingly negotiations 
for a line to St. Paul were undertaken. 

Sometime between 1864 and 1870 a rail- 
road was built from St. Paul up Missis- 
sippi River to Sauk Rapids by an inde- 
pendent company. This line was pur- 
chased by the Northern Pacific Co. in 
1870 with the understanding that the road 
was to be completed to Brainerd, where it 
would connect with the main line of that 
system. In the panic of 1873 the North- 
ern Pacific could not fulfill its obligations 
and so lost control of this line. The road 
was completed to Brainerd on November 
1, 1877, by other persons, and it afforded 
the first railroad connection between the 
Northern Pacific line and the cities of 
Minneapolis and St. Paul. The Northern 
Pacific Co. leased this line in 1878 and 
later acquired control of it through the 
purchase of its capital stock. Still later 
the company built the road from Little 
Falls to Staples, giving it the through 
connection desired. 


26 


GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


and as far as the eye can see there are no hills to break the monot- 
ony of flat and swamp. The railway follows, in general, the valley 
of Leaf River, which lies north of the track. Like 
most of the other valleys of this region, this one 
has not been carved by the stream that occupies 
it but is merely a chain of low places along which the 
water finds an outlet. Such valleys have no definite shape or plan; 
and consequently at one place the railway may be in a fine rolling 
country that is well farmed and prosperous, as it 
is at Verndale, and at another place it may be in 
the most dismal expanse of swamps and shallow 
lakes. 

In a general way the country becomes more rolling toward the 
west, and about the town of Wadena (see sheet 3, p. 32) there are 
fine farms on both sides of the railway. When the 
crops wave green in the breeze or take on the golden 
tints of harvest time this country affords the traveler 
a pleasing contrast with the swamps and scrub oaks 
of the region to the east. Just east of the station at 
Wadena the Northern Pacific is crossed by a line of the Great North- 
ern which runs from Sauk Center to Cass Lake, and about 2 miles 
west of Wadena a branch line of the Northern Pacific turns to the 
left and runs to Fergus Falls and Breckenridge. 

Near milepost 169! the railway approaches Leaf River on the right, 
and near the valley there is more decided evidence of morainic 
topography than there is between this pomt and 
Staples. The hills are not high, but they have the 
peculiar conical or sugar-loaf shape that characterizes 
morainic hills, and they are separated in many places 
by marked kettles or depressions. The hills in this 
region are formed of material that the ice brought in from the Red 
River valley. A brief history of the several invasions of Minnesota 
by the ice and a description of the drift deposited by them is given — 
below by Frank Leverett.’ 


Aldrich. 


Elevation 1,351 feet. 
Population 586.* 
St. Paul 148 miles. 


Verndale. 


Elevation 1,369 feet. 
Population 538. 
St. Paul 152 miles. 


Wadena. 


Elevation 1,372 feet. 
Population 1,820. 
St. Paul 159 miles. 


Bluffton. 


Elevation 1,344 feet. 
Population 148. 
St. Paul 164 miles. 





1 Mileposts on the Northern Pacific are 
numbered from division points and not 
from the ends of the system. 

? Before the glacial epoch, or Great Ice 
Age, Minnesota presented a very different 
appearance from that which it presents 
to-day. Where there are now flat plains 
there were then rocky hills and ridges, 
separated by deep valleys. In the cen- 
tral and western parts of the State, from 
the Minnesota Valley northward, the bed- 
rock is deeply buried. Deep drilling 
shows that it has an uneven surface and 





is composed chiefly of old crystalline 
rocks in which there are differences of 
altitude of at least 500 feet. In the 
northeastern part of the State the iron 
ranges and their associated rock forma- 
tions stood out much more prominently 
than they do to-day. This old surface 
is now so deeply buried under glacial 
material in the greater part of the State 
that it is not possible, with our present 
knowledge, to outline the position and 
courses of even the principal streams of 
that time. Of the eastern and southern 





row Win 











SHEET No. 2 


MINNESOTA 


a 






| 


Scale 500. 10,000 











SA £L./2/6 ° g Approximately 8 miles to | inch | 
A \ 3) 10 \ ZOMiles 
iam it 
1-0 5 10 iS 20 25 30Kilometers 
LY { Or" Loe Re eel Leer te ed Ek ee ies el a Vt eS PE eer eS Pa 
Hid i Contour interval 200 feet | 
? \ ae ‘ ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL | 
w \ y 
er > Q™ The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota. are shown every /0 miles if 
rig ey The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
Qo (7 
aa \ 
7 i 4 
4 \) 2 
) \ 4 
> bs 
¥ 
sen” = 
S / 4/66 D 
x mae if 55! , D 
J OR O 
Se Fo }} 
eats / ( AS C ky 
SS, (MBetle Prairie ~ (+d | 
Nas hg f EUS 
Bay f 
ih eve 
ERE. ack, elk 
} My 7 fete ct Cae neal 
Ate) fLittle Falls : 
{ he ) Zz 
oe C () } Z €/ a = & PN iy z 2 ‘* | | | 2 
c —~/; ‘ fy i 7 Sed eran ok Ti | 
= if ~, WY gx f | | 
( 4) SEAS 
aN a ) Lt a oe aa wich Prairie 
een / ( ’ ly 
Eur Gregory 5a 4 | 
— \ meet ee awter w+ | 
. lw Yeh Weer ww 
B.)- fy { D 
—y j ae @ 
Ao sits 
* dy a \\ yl J | 
hg AS Royalton __< 
; . L 











AND PRINTED BY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


ENGRAVE 


BULLETIN 611 7 SHEET No. 2 
| MINNESOTA 









| 


1 
Scale 500,000 











{Sheet No 3/ 








ee EL/2/6 ° Approximately 8 miles to | inch : 
aa 5 10 \ ZOMiles 
y r 
Z “ : ope gS 5 10 iS 20 25 SO KibOne tes 
= ie Gee pe tee oe gue ep eT es eee tiers ey ie Contour interval 200 feet 
ek BS. | Se ho. ee ee Al eke VK “ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
/ ¢ sone ye / OG: snes % eae ee > dele aor CL Or, The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles 


The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 


fi J 
Xo, Fd y a rr? 
 Bidhin ee § }} ~~ ex 3 
£LE728 Ae " pies 
120 ateoy 4 \ yas 


( Se 
ee . Pp aeS 5 Topeka 
SeuOwge () SD cts: Wie e (as i Q” D 
l a oh 4 S/T). [ee AS r 
\ Besley: Sy pele ak 5 


\ S ye’ vs Cy C y 
an ales OF F Sy ‘gBelle Prairie Sis”) 
Sd) anit oAin : ELHISS 
~s\ i= ELU76 <7 { ax Q) 

aon | 2 ait 














46 eae os SS = = # a a Py SS ape : Sepa VA 
: y Gravelville 
| 0. \ he Ly Yah ile Falls I 2s 
ae : Oe : gettin Pte : 
| Bets cRN Sg AML Li nN es ma 
| aN : Be cates ae & 2 | 
Tete Le » VPS age @ Rich Prairie 





| 
‘ | &.. ( 
Swen Can I Be Gregory 
100 
E 


y Vawter Vag 


¢ 


























1 . \ | CF gg > ek ak UW tA 
\ ae a L 3 VY ; 
a bes BY) et 4 { D L 
ee rum Sy oR of Shs O ia cae 
| e\, ¢ Re gu NS 
: \ | Ys AS Royalton __/ ee 
| aN | De ae & R408 C o~—— 
MAP OF CUYUNA IRON RANGE, SHOWING ITS GEOGRAPHIC RELATION f Sere | it eet ee he ee ei Ne 
TO THE MESABI AND im | a of Le sf S < 
VERMILION RANGES OF MINNESOTA : EXPLANATION OD se of | “ —+-»\ ko / pap : _8 if 
\ iy \ —=\, (ewig ee OY as 
| Loose surface materials \ fl pm enc es 
A Gray drift of western ice sheet \ Vi a NS \ VL sets k 
B Red drift of middle ice sheet | aoaternery NE = P Holding ford, Sr S658: = Ne) anaes 
nae ERT? ee 
nderlying rocks ND ) | \ 
5 pies Cretaceous ott ae C3 
ranite and gneiss , ea f 
E Slate and schist } Algonkian Ags > 2 ‘D-O 
\e : us ( O | 
1. 
| fous yet ae Serdelay 
| SE 0B e . Age on 
AN Sar : a 
Fe Collegeville Ny 
SA age adie are Sas Same me Sr = Ae Be RL Saori i how a ey ss St Joseph : 
95 94°30" peer WP Zi oso = 
nae Bekins Se: (Sheet No // 








ENGRAVED AND PRINTED BY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROU TE. 27 


West of Bluffton the morainic character of the topography con- 
tinues for some distance but gradually gives place to the rolling 
country about New York Mills. The less broken 
country here is well suited to agriculture, and fine 
farms may be seen on both sides of the track. 

The railway is here on the divide between the 
Hudson Bay and Mississippi River drainage systems. 

It is not at all certain that before the glaciers covered this country 
the divide was at this place, as all the stream courses have been 
either materially modified or completely rearranged by the ice sheets 
that invaded the State. The present divide is not made evident 
by any well-marked ridge, and the appearance of the country will 
not probably show the traveler that he is crossing from one of the 
great drainage basins of the continent to another. The figures given 
for the elevation of the towns show that New York Mills is a little 
higher than the towns on either side and hence that the water part- 
ing is near that place. RAs 
_ At milepost 187 the railway crosses Otter Tail River, the first 
large stream passed in the Hudson Bay drainage basin. This stream 
has its origin in a number of beautiful lakes near the Northern 
Pacific line and flows southward through Rush Lake to Otter Tail 
‘Lake, the largest body of water in the region. Thence it flows 
westward and joins the Bois des Sioux at Breckenridge, forming Red 
River. 

After crossing Otter Tail River, which meanders broadly in a 
swampy bottom about a mile in width, the railway traverses a roll- 
ing plain of rich agricultural land near the center 
of which stands the prosperous town of Perham, so 
named for the first president of the Northern Pacific 
Railroad Co. The surface of this plain is formed of 
sand and gravel washed out from the front of the 
‘western ice sheet as the big moraine to the west and north was 
being deposited. Pine, Little Pine, and Marion lakes lie a few miles 
from the track on the right, and the cottages and hotels along their 


New York Mills. 


Elevation 1,433 feet. 
Population 474. 
St. Paul 172 miles. 


: Perham. 


- Elevation 1,390 feet. 
Population 1,376. 
St. Paul 182 miles. 





parts, however, enough is known to war- 
rant the statement that the positions of 
the preglacial stream courses were not 
widely different from those of to-day. 
The Mississippi flows locally in a new 
course past St. Anthony Falls, at Little 
Falls, and at Sauk Rapids; but drilling 
has shown that a deeply buried valley, 
which is 200 feet or more below the pres- 
ent stream, lies near the river and in 
places crosses it. 

The glacial epoch did not consist 
simply in the growth and disappearance 





of a single great continental glacier; there 
were stages of great extension of the ice, 
separated by stages in which it was 
greatly reduced if not entirely melted 
away. There were also several centers 
of exceptionally great snowfall and snow 
and ice accumulation, from which the 
ice radiated or flowed outward. From 
three of these centers of dispersion 
the ice spread into Minnesota in the 
Wisconsin stage. (See map on sheet 
3, p. 32.) The western and southern 
parts of the State were covered by ice 


28 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 

shores offer many inducements to the sportsman or to the summer 
visitor who is in search of relaxation from the breathless hurry of 
modern city life. 

The plain extends along the railway to a point 4 miles northwest 
of Perham, where it gives place to rough, hummocky land that 
marks an eastern point of the great morainic ridge on the west of 
the track. When this moraine was formed the ice had disappeared 


from the country to the east but covered all that part of the State 


lying to the west. 


From Luce to Frazee the ground is generally 


swampy or dotted by small lakes or ponds. 
At milepost 196 the railway crosses Otter Tail River, nied flowing 


to the east. 


On account of the numerous ridges this stream wanders 


about from lake to lake, finding an outlet by an exceedingly round- 


about course. 


Only a few of these lakes are visible from the train, 





(western ice sheet) which came from 
central Canada. The eastern part as far 
south as the vicinity of St. Paul was 
covered by ice (middle ice sheet) from 
the region south of Hudson Bay, and a 
small area on the border of the Lake 
Superior basin was covered by ice (Supe- 
rior ice sheet) which came in from the 
east through that basin. The western 
sheet brought in fragments of limestone 
and shale, the middle sheet carried south- 
ward much material from the iron ranges 
and also red sandstone from the west end 
of Lake Superior, and the eastern or 
Superior sheet transported to the limits 
of its advance large amounts of the red 
sandstone bordering that basin. 

The effect of these invasions was to fill 
up and obliterate the valleys or to block 
them in such a manner as to produce 
chains of lakes along their courses. 
Large moraines or irregular, hummocky 
ridges of drift mark successive positions 
of the border of each of the ice sheets. 
Sand and gravel were spread out by 
water escaping from the ice front, fring- 
ing the moraines in extensive plains 
termed outwash aprons. In places where 
the ice border melted back rapidly no 
moraines were formed, but instead a 
nearly level surface, composed of bowlder 
clay or till. 

The moraines of the Superior sheet en- 
circle the west end of the Lake Superior 
basin in a series of concentric ridges, each 
ridge being later than the one without 
and earlier than the one within. Those 


formed by the western ice sheet lie in 
the high country along the valleys of 
Red River and Minnesota River. These 
streams are bordered by broad plains 
which owe their form to the fact that 
they lay under the deep part of the ice 
sheet and along its axis of movement. 

The moraines of the middle ice sheet 
are well developed south and east of St. 
Paul and in central Minnesota. The 
Northern Pacific Railway traverses one of 
the most prominent moraines of this ice 
sheet, between Little Falls and Staples. 

The three advances of ice, though oc- 
curring in a single glacial stage, did not 
take place at the same time. After the 
middle sheet reached its maximum and 
melted back nearly if not quite to the 
Canadian line, the other sheets advanced 
into the district it had occupied and there 
covered its drift with their deposits. 
The western ice in places extended 75 
miles or more into the district the middle 
sheet had abandoned. 

The map on sheet 3 (p. 32) is intended 
to show the several glacial invasions of 
Minnesota during the Wisconsin stage, 
but as the three glaciers did not invade 
the State at the same time it is impossible 
to represent them accurately on a single 
map. The extent of the middle sheet is 
known only from the drift it deposited, 
and_as much of this is covered by material 
brought in later by the western sheet its 
limit on the west can be only conjectured, 
but it probably covered much of the 
northern part of the State. : 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC 


ROUTE. 29 


but the map shows that great numbers of them lie on both sides of 
the road. The kettle-like depressions in a moraine, many of which 





FIGURE 3.—Diagram showing probable origin of many kettle holes. 






HH 





fj 





A, Block of ice recently broken 


from a glacier; B, same block after part has been melted and the remainder covered with sand and 
mud; C, depression resulting from complete melting of the ice. 


are filled with water and become ponds or lakes, are due either to 
irregularities in the deposition of the drift along the front of a glacier 
or to the melting of detached blocks of ice." 


The map is supposed to represent the 
State as it was when the western ice sheet 
extended southward along the Red River 
valley and deployed to the east into the 
open lands of Minnesota. Part of this 
great glacier found an outlet eastward into 
the upper Mississippi Valley and the val- 
ley of St. Louis River, but the main mass 
of the ice pushed southeastward along the 
valley of Minnesota River. <A part over- 
flowed northeastward, forming a lobe that 
covered much of the territory north of St. 
Paul. The main lobe swept on south- 
ward across the boundary of the State and 
as far as Des Moines, Iowa. After a time 
the melting at its front exceeded the sup- 
ply of fresh ice coming from the north, 
and then the glacial margin began to 
retreat, and eventually the ice disap- 
peared from the State. 

When the ice of the Superior sheet 
melted back into that basin the ponding 
of water between the ice front and the 
highland bordering the basin formed a 
glacial lake, known as Lake Duluth, 
which discharged into the St. Croix Val- 
ley, in northern Wisconsin. Similarly, 
as the ice melted in the Red River valley, 
a lake known as Lake Agassiz (see p. 32) 
formed between the front of the glacier 
on the north and the high land to the 
south and discharged to the south through 
Browns Valley. 

Over a large part of the surface of the 
drift of Minnesota there has been little 
change since the ice disappeared except 
the formation of soil and a slight leaching 


and weathering; but in some places nota- 
ble changes have been wrought. Many 
of Minnesota’s ‘‘ten thousand lakes” 
show beaches at higher levels than the 
present, their outlets having been cut 
down by the water at various stages. 
Many lakes have been so filled with sedi- 
ment as to become marshes or even dry 
land, and many have been filled by the 
growth of peat. St. Anthony Falls, on 
the Mississippi, has retreated a few feet a 
year until recently checked by an arti- 
ficial retaining wall. Minnehaha Falls, 
ona small tributary of the Mississippi, has 
retreated less than 400 feet in several 
thousand years. On the whole, the 
amount of stream erosion since the last 
glaciation is slight, and on many streams 
it is scarcely enough to be measurable. 

1When a glacier reaches its greatest 
extension and begins to retreat, its pause 
and recession mean that the supply of 
fresh ice or snow back at the gathering 
eround,; where it receives most of its mate- 
rial, is not sufficient to keep pace with the 
melting that goes on over its entire sur- 
face, but more particularly at its outer 
margin. The result is that the ice near 
the extremity moves forward very slowly 
and finally ceases to move at all. The 
edge of the ice sheet becomes thin and 
irregular, and, owing to more rapid 
melting along cracks or crevasses, masses 
of ice become separated from the main 
body. 

Part of such a block, as shown at A in 
figure 3, above, may be uncovered, but 


30 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


Near Frazee the surface is rough and broken and there are many 
deep valleys containing lakes, ponds, or swamps. <A notable depres- 
sion or old channel is crossed by the railway just 
southeast of the town. This channel extends north- 
westward from Murphy Lake, 2 miles southeast of 
Frazee, and it is generally occupied by swamps or 
Jong, narrow lakes. The railway follows it for 3 miles 
beyond the town, and some of the views of the little lakes on both 
sides of the track are very pretty. Town Lake, close to Frazee, and 
Harold Lake, farther on, are in this channel on the left (south) of 
the track; and Chilton and Brink Lakes are irregular bodies of water 
on the other side. 

Frazee is in the heart of a lake region, where large lakes abound 
on all sides of the town, but none of them are visible from the train 
for several miles beyond Harold Lake. It is also in a great morainic 
belt, which was formed by the ice sheet (western) that invaded this 
country from the Red River valley. The hills are steep and conical, 
and the depressions between them are very pronounced. To this 
glacier is largely due the lake region of central-western Minnesota, 
well known as a summer resort and as a paradise for sportsmen. 

The largest and best-known sheet of water that is visible from the 
train in this vicinity is Detroit Lake, which can be seen on the left 
as the train skirts its banks between mileposts 208 and 209, a short 
time before reaching the station at Detroit. From Detroit Lake a 
river channel leads southward into and through a series of other lakes 
of equal beauty. This channel has been made navigable by a system 
of locks, and small steamers ply from lake to lake, passing the finest 
scenery of the lake region. The drinking water used on Northern 
Pacific dining cars comes from Pokegama Spring, 
on the shore of Detroit Lake. 

Detroit is one of the most important towns in the 
lake region, and is a point of departure for many of 


Frazee. 
Elevation 1,410 feet. 


Population 1,645. 
St. Paul 194 miles. 


Detroit. 

Elevation 1,386 feet. 
Population 2,807. 
St. Paul 203 miles. 





possibly the larger part will be buried in 
sand and gravel washed out from the front 
of the glacier. In the course of time the 
part above ground melts and disappears, 
but if the deposition of sand and gravel 
continues the part below the surface may 
become completely covered, and being 
protected it persists, as shown at B in 
figure 3. Finally this also melts, and 
the surrounding sand and gravel fall into 
the hole left by theice. This leaves such 
a depression as that shown in the dia- 
gram—a kettle, as it is generally called 
in a glaciated country. 


If the material surrounding the kettle 
is open and porous, and if there is good - 
underground drainage, the kettle may 
remain open and in much the same con- 
dition as it was when it was formed; but 
if the earth around the kettle is imper-— 
vious, then most of the water falling into 
it or draining into it from the surrounding 
region is retained, and a lake or pond is 
the result. Some of the lakes of this region 
are many miles across, and if their basins 
were formed in this way the blocks of ice 
that caused the depressions in which they 
lie must have been correspondingly large. 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 81 


its resorts. Just west of the town the Northern Pacific is crossed 
by a branch of the Soo Line (Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. 
Marie Railway), which runs from Alexandria to Plummer. 
The roughest part of the moraine seen from the railway, a part 
known as the Leaf Hills, lies east of Detroit, but west of that place the 
surface features become more and more subdued. 
Audubon. As the morainic topography disappears farming 
Elevation 1,332 feet. becomes more general, and at Audubon field after 
Gee field of grain stretches away over the rolling upland 
as far as the eye can see. Although the traveler 
may have enjoyed the ever-changing panorama of lakes, hills, and 
plains of the morainic belt, he may find it a relief to emerge into the 
fine farming region about Audubon and Lake Park. 
Lake Park is another important town of the lake region, and 
although no water is visible from the train there are one or two 
ponds near by, and some of the finest lakes of 


Lake Park. the region le a short distance to the south. Lake 
Elevation 1,341 feet. Park is on the edge of the prairies. The trees are 
Population 740. 


small and are confined largely to the watercourses. 
Almost all the land is under a high state of cul- 
tivation, and fields of wheat and hay abound on every side. 
The country here is a gently rolling upland with the valleys cut 
to a depth of 50 feet or more below the general level. At Manitoba 
‘ _° Junction the Northern Pacific line running to 
nape Raraaie Crookston, Minn., Grand Forks, N. Dak., and Win- 
Nie pita ata nipeg, Canada, turns to the right (north). At this 
place the traveler enters the valley of Buffalo Creek 
and can not see the upland country, which, however, is much the same 
in character as the country east of the junction—that is, 1t is rolling, 
but is cut by the valleys of the larger streams. 


St. Paul 216 miles. 


Hawley. The railway follows Buffalo Creek through the 
Elevation 1,174 feet. village of Hawley, but the valley grows deeper 
Population 800, 


toward the west, and little of the country outside 
of the immediate valley can be seen from the train. 
If the traveler had been attempting to cross the continent in the 
closing stages of the glacial epoch by the route which he is now fol- 
lowing, he would have been confronted, when he 
pluskoda: reached the place where Muskoda now stands (see 
Elevation 1,087 feet. sheet 4, p. 40), by a vast lake which then occupied 
St. Paul 234 miles. : 
the valley of Red River. The only passageway 
around it would have been by a wide detour to the south, for the 
lake extended into Canada for several hundred miles and was bounded 
on the north by the impassable front of the great continental glacier. 
As the lake has completely disappeared the reader may be skeptical 
about its existence or wonder upon what evidence its presence in a 


St. Paul 228 miles. 


32 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


former age has been determined. Unfortunately the track is so far 
below the general surface of the upland that there is little oppor- 
tunity to observe details, but if the traveler could carefully examine 
the ground, he would easily recognize the shore of this ancient lake 
just before he reaches the station at Muskoda. ‘This old shore con- 
sists of a ridge of gravel which was heaped up by the waves that beat 
upon its western side. The large gravel pit which the railroad has 
excavated in this ridge to procure ballast can be seen from the 


Muskoda station. 


The lake was named by the geologist Warren Upham in honor of 
Louis Agassiz, who was the first to make a systematic study of 


glaciers and glacial phenomena.! 


The beach at Muskoda 1s called 








1 Lake Agassiz was a body of fresh water 
that existed during a late stage of the 
glacial epoch in the valley of Red River 
and extended northward (see map on 
sheet 4, p. 40) from the head of that 
stream for nearly 700 miles. The area of 
the lake at the time of its greatest ex- 
pansion was about 110,000 square miles, 
exceeding the present aggregate area of 
the five great lakes tributary to the St. 
Lawrence. 

The shore of this ancient lake is marked 
by well-defined beaches, and it is from 
these that the existence and the extent 
of the lake are known. The beach ridges 
are built upon typical bowlder clay or 
till that was deposited by an ice sheet, 
and hence it is known that the lake either 
followed the invasion of the ice or marked 
the closing stages of that episode. 

The next question that arises is, What 
were the conditions that led to the forma- 
tion of such a lake? It could not have 
been held in a landlocked basin, for no 
such basin exists at the present time, and 
there is no evidence that the surface fea- 
tures of that time differed greatly from 
those of to-day. Warren Upham, who 
has studied this question most carefully, 
has come to the conclusion that it was 
held in place by the retreating front of 
the glacier, which blocked the natural 
outlet of the water to the north and forced 
it to accumulate in this basin. The pond- 
ing of the water in the Red River valley 
began as soon as the ice front retreated 
across the divide at the head of Minne- 
sota River. Lake Agassiz thus began as 


a small body of water, and expanded 
northward as the ice melted until it be- 
came of great extent. The water found 
an outlet southward (known as Warren 
River) to Minnesota River through 
Browns Valley, which extends from Lake 
Traverse to Lake Big Stone along the 
boundary between South Dakota and 
Minnesota. 

The water of Lake Agassiz continued 
to flow through Warren River until the 
Keewatin (ke-wah’tin) glacier had re- 
tired northward far enough to permit 
an outlet direct to Hudson Bay. As the 
barrier which held the lake in place was 
composed of ice, its gradual retreat af- 
forded outlsts at different levels, and at 
many of these stages the water remained 
long enough to carve beach lines more or 
less distinct. Thirty-one such beachesare ~ 
known, all of which except the lowest ex- 
tend into the United States. Fourteen of 
them were formed by the lake when its 
outlet was to the south, and seventeen 
after it gained an outlet into Hudson 
Bay. 

In comparison with the irregularities 
of the topography of the region outside 
of the lake the shore lines are inconspic- 
uous, but on the smooth slopes of the 
lake bed they are generally easily trace- 
able. The best-developed beach ridges 
of the lake commonly rise 10 to 20 feet 
above the adjoining land on the side that — 
was next to the water and from 3 to 10 
feet on the opposite side. They vary in 


‘width from 10 to 30 rods and are composed — 


of interstratified gravel and ‘sand, the 


SHEET No. 3 






MINNESOTA 










| 
Scale 500,000 
Approximately 8 miles to 1 inch 


1 5 i 1 20Miles 


| has) 10 20 25 30Kilometers 


Contour interval 200 feet 
4 ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
ay The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles 


The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 


z 
.@ 
om.) 
Bin. gh 
. 
® 
i?) 
: t: 


os 2 RIVERS 


ig He ae & 
Ri a if / N¢ 3 
EL/4/F pie Q) ¥ 


(Sheet No 2) 


95°30". 


ENGRAVED AND PRINTED -8Y THE U-S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


BULLETIN 611 Bec | ate Snes 


Een ; MINNESOTA 





































































50 MILES 








































































































































































































1 
Scale 500,000 
Approximately 8 miles to | inch 
5 1 1 : 20Miles 
+) 10 20 25 30Kilometers 

































































Contour interval 200 feet 


ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 





































































































The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles 


















































The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 







































































































































































































































































































































































Sheet No. F 
















































































oe 
L418 


ea es \ w/8 
Pelican Lake 
































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































je a Bey als ¢ 
T tone age ® e 
=, 
NN pte. hey CIT OOS x ¥ a 
te hy 0 Fs AY pe ed SINE oe : Ge —\8- = ae: Pe 
i oo BA. | e E> ¥ lees: eter 55 Cee 
| psy a ones Lo68 *)s Us Merion Lak =2 yh ig Mil 
30’ : — Ss : Sao oes $e I. 
| aaa heer 
at 
a 
Ly 
r a uk 
Bree 
rCré S| p Q 
s Q 
alt Patktan S 
Ly Ny) 
& 
) 
MAP OF WESTERN AND SUPERIOR ICE SHEETS OF ) Sa s fegaihe 2 
MINNESOTA, SHOWING THEIR RELATIONS TO THE DRIFT | | i? UY eo = / 
PREVIOUSLY DEPOSITED BY THE MIDDLE ICE SHEET |. "ae! 
Prepared by Frank Leverett | i! 
Cee 
| sais iia & 
Re noice chee eee pee 5 ty 





————— 


ENGRAVEDYAND PRINTED BY THE U-.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


Bs) 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 


the Herman beach. It was formed when the water of Lake Agassiz 
stood at its highest level and consequently marks the line between 
the unmodified glacial topography above and the smooth surface of 
the old lake basin below. The difference in the topography may not 
be noticeable on the east side of the valley because of the unfavor- 
able outlook, but on the opposite side of the valley west of F argo 
the difference is very striking and can readily be seen from the train. 

Between mileposts 242 and 243 the railway emerges from the now 
shallow valley of Buffalo Creek, and the traveler may obtain his 
first view of the famous Red River valley, which has been referred 
to frequently as the ‘‘granary of the world,’ but which was once a 


lake about 50 miles wide at this point and nearly 700 miles long. 
a ee 


gravel prevailing, including pebbles 2 to 
4 inches in diameter. 
The development of the beaches varies 
greatly from place to place, depending 
‘apparently upon the abundance and 
character of the materials which were 
within reach of the waves. Thus where 
the valley is crossed by the main line of 
‘the Northern Pacific Railway three beach 
‘ridges are clearly visible on the east side 
‘of the valley and two on the west. At 
‘Wahpeton (waw’pe-ton), on the Fergus 
‘Falls branch of the same road, there are 
four well-developed ridges on each side 
of the valley. At Grand Forks there are 
four ridges on the east, where they are 
crossed by the Great Northern Railway, 
and twelve on the west. Not only does 
the number of ridges vary from place 
to place, but ridges disappear and other 
ridges, either higher or lower, appear in 
their places, so that the identification of 
the various ridges is a matter of consider- 
able difficulty. 
; The Herman beach, which marks the 
highest stage of the lake and which is the 
one most easily recognized, has been 
traced for a long distance around the south 
and west sides of the lake, but the lower 
beaches are not so well marked and can 
not be traced continuously. 
4 Sand and gravel deltas, so extensive 
asto be notable features of the topography, 
were formed by several streams that 
flowed into the lake while it stood at its 
ighest stages. The Buffalo River delta, 
own which the Northern Pacific Rail- 


me 95558°—Bull. 611153 









way runs immediately west of Muskoda, 
covers an area about 7 miles long from 
north to south and 2 to 34 miles wide from 
east to west. As the average thickness 
of the material laid down in this delta is 
about 50 feet, its volume is probably one- 
sixth of a cubic mile. The delta plain, 
as shown in figure 4 (p. 34), is terminated 
about 3 miles west of Muskoda by a steep 
slope, like the face of a terrace, 25 to 40 
feet high. 

The floor of this ancient lake is appar- 
ently a level plain, although it really 
has a slight slope toward the middle and 
a gentle northward inclination of about 
a foot to the mile. 

The several shore lines are not parallel 
with one another or with sea level, but 
all show an ascent toward the north or 
northeast. Thus the upper or Herman 
beach rises 175 feet between Lake 
Traverse, the lower end of Lake Agassiz, 
and the international boundary, but the 
grade is not regular, being 35 feet in the 
first 75 miles, 60 feet in the second, and 
80 feet in the third. The lower beaches 
show a similar though less pronounced 
rise. As these beaches must have been 
horizontal when they were formed, it is 
evident that the crust of the earth has 
been elevated toward the north, and 
as the beaches show divergence among 
themselves, it is certain that this up- 
ward movement in the earth’s crust 
began when Lake Agassiz was in exist- 
ence and continued for some time after it 
was drained. 


GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. | 


34 


The silt deposited in this lake gives the valley its wonderfully smooth 
surface and its great fertility. During the highest stage of the lake 
Buffalo Creek built just below Muskoda a delta of considerable size, 
and it is from this delta that the first view of the valley may be ob- 
tained. Ata later stage, when the water of the lake was at a lower 
level, the waves cut away the front of the delta and greatly increased 
the natural slope of the valley side, as shown in figure 4. The rail- 
way engineers found difficulty in getting down this slope without 
loops and curves, so a long, high fill has been made which gives a 
uniform grade from top to ontome ! The weight of the fill, however, 
proved to be too great for the soft mud at the bottom of the od 





spirit atlicctealal Sia = Seed hw A eat OE ie OMG YY Cyl 
DW SU yyy 
V4 
S-----------5-=-=5 yy, iy YY 
Wy WY YY, Ys Wy Wy, Uff. 








et eet FDO 






FIGURE 4.—Section of Buffalo River delta, Minn. AB, Surface of Lake Agassiz at the Herman stage; 
EFB, delta profile; CD, level of water at Campbell eee EDF, part of delta cut away by the vor 
lenving the steep westward front (Df). 


lake bed, and it is still settling and throwing up a ridge of the soft 
material on each side. 

From the high fill the traveler can see something of the ered 
extent of the valley—its level floor stretching mile after mile without 
the least eminence or depression to break its regularity—and some 
of the fine farms that have made it famous. Drilling for water has 
shown that originally the surface of the valley was uneven, much 
like the country on both sides. At a later date the valley was filled 
by a great glacier that came down from the north, grinding and 
scouring away many of the projections and filling the depressions with 
the waste material; and then as the last smoothing process the fine 
mud carried by the streams settled in the lake, giving the valley its 
present smooth surface. 








1In the original construction of the 
Northern Pacific Railway the standard 
maximum grade adopted was 52 feet to 
the mile except on the mountain sec- 
tions, where the standard was 116 feet to 
the mile. As the traffic developed it 
was found necessary, for economy of 
operation and to increase the capacity 
of the line to handle the business of the 
country tributary to it, to adopt new 
standards of 18 and 21 feet to the mile 
except upon the mountain sections. 
This change necessitated a reduction in 


the original grades at many points, in- 
volving a large amount of expensive 
work, which has been going on actively 
for the last 15 years and is now nearly 
completed. The fill referred to in the text 
was constructed in connection with one. 
of these reductions of grade. The grade. 
was reduced from 48 to 18 feet to the 
mile, and freight-train loads were in- 
creased from 2,200 tons with two loco- 
motives to 2,550 tons with one locomo- 
tive. Many similar examples of grade 
reduction will be observed along the line. 





THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 30 
The material laid down in the waters of Lake Agassiz is so soft and 
fine that it is washed away with great rapidity when it is exposed to 
the action of the elements. Ordinarily the surface 
Glyndon. vegetation protects it, but when this is removed dis- 
peta ont astrous results follow. In 1895 a wagon road was 
St. Paul 242 miles, graded east of Red River and a short distance north 
of the railway near Glyndon for about 6 miles. The 
farmers at once began to drain their fields into the roadside ditch, 
which was deepened and widened so rapidly by the consequent 
erosion that in four years the road had been destroyed for nearly 
a mile and in its place there was a channel 80 feet wide and 25 
feet deep. 
_ Dilworth is a division terminal of the railway, established to relieve 
the congestion of the yards at Fargo, where the terminal was formerly 
) located. In the Red River valley may be seen some 
Dilworth. of the magical effects of the mirage that is so striking 


} : ° ° . . 
ee yeuteiemike  ®& feature of an arid or semiarid region. Warren 
Upham describes it as follows: 




















The mirage, typical of plains country or the ocean, may be seen in the Red River 
valley almost any sunshiny day in spring, summer, or autumn. This queer phenome- 
non makes the high land at the sides of the valley, the tops of the distant trees, and 
houses appear to be raised a little above the horizon, with a narrow strip of sky between. 
‘The more complex and astonishing effect of mirage may be seen from the highland on 
either side of the lake-bed floor. There, in looking across the valley from one and 
one-half to two hours after sunrise on a hot morning following a cool night, the groves 
and houses, villages, and grain elevators loom up to two or three times their true 
height and places ordinarily hidden by the curvature of the earth are brought into 
view. Oftentimes, too, these objects are seen double, being repeated in an inverted 
image close above their real positions and separated from it by a foglike belt. In its 
most perfect development the mirage shows the upper and topsy-turvy portion of 
the view quite as distinctly as the lower and true portion. 


These appearances are due to refraction and reflection from layers 
of air of different density, such as are often formed above a wide 
expanse of level country in warm weather. 

The last town in Minnesota through which the train passes is 
Moorhead, named in honor of William G. Moorhead, a former director 

of the railway company. Between this town and 
Moorhead, Minn. Fargo, N. Dak., runs Red River, the boundary line 
Elevation 929 feet. between the two States, a deep, sluggish stream that 
So pant out ike,  i8 generally heavily charged with mud derived from 
| soft materials deposited in the ancient lake. This 
mud gives to the water a brownish-red color. 





86 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


North Dakota comprises an area of 70,837 square miles. It was 
admitted to the Union in 1889, and at the census of 1910 it had a 
population of 577,056. Itis primarily an agricultural 
North Dakota. State, but from time to time, as conditions have 
changed, there has been a corresponding change in 
its leading industries. At the time of the first permanent settlement 
the whole State consisted of one vast open range which furnished 
grazing in abundance for the herds of wild animals that roamed over 
it. The white man saw the natural fitness of the region for grazing, 
and soon cattle, horses, and sheep were feeding in place of the deer 
and buffalo. 

In the Red River valley farming early received a great stimulus 
from the officials of the Northern Pacific Railway, and before many 
years this valley, from its head to the Canadian line, was one vast 
sea of wheat. Farming was also carried on in other valleys to a 
minor extent, but for a long time the region west of Missouri River 
was considered suitable only for grazing, as the annual rainfall (16 
inches) was thought to be too small for raising crops. The discovery 
in recent years that by proper methods of cultivation most of the 
moisture in the soil could be conserved and rendered available for 
agriculture has worked a wonderful change in the appearance of this 
country, for now almost all the land is under fence and the region west 
of Missouri River contains many fine farms and thriving towns. 

The principal crops are wheat, oats, and flax, and the raising ol 
domestic animals is still an important industry. According to the 
census of 1910 the value of all farm products for the year 1909 was 
$205,000,000, of which $180,000,000 was produced directly from the 
crops and $14,000,000 from domestic animals. During the same yeai 
the value of manufactured products amounted to $19,000,000. 

North Dakota is well supplied with lignite. This is a low-grade 
fuel, but it is of very great value for domestic use on these treeless 
plains. Almost every section of land in the part of the State lyims 
west of Missouri River is underlain by lignite, and it is estimatec 
that the State contains 697,900,000,000 tons of this fuel. In 191 
the value of the lignite mined commercially amounted to $765,105 

Fargo is the most important town in the Red River valley and thi 
largest in the State of North Dakota. It was named for William G 

Fargo, of Wells, Fargo & Co.’s Express. Fargo is th 
Fargo,N. Dak. — seat of the North Dakota Agricultural College am 
ahaa ape Experiment Station and is noted as one of the grea 
St. Paul 252 miles, | farm-machinery markets in the United States. Th 
climate of Fargo is about the same as that of the Re 
River valley as a whole. The winters are frequently severe, th 
mercury registering 40° below zero, and the summers are hot, rangi) 
: 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 37 


from 90° to 105°. The mean annual precipitation is about 20 to 24 
inches, compared with 28 inches at St. Paul and 15 or 16 inches in the 
western part of the State. 
The Red River valley, including that part which lies in Canada, was 
one of the first to be explored in this part of the country. Lake 
Winnipeg, at its mouth, in Canada, was part of the great highway 
by which the French voyageurs ate the country west of Lake 
Superior in the early days of the trapper and trader. The earliest 
iuthentic record of exploration is that of Verandrye, who made an 
msuccessful attempt to cross the continent in 1738-1742. French 
iraders doubtless followed in his footsteps, but they left few if any 
records of their experiences or of the country traversed. In the 
sarly years of the nineteenth century David Thompson and Alexander 
denry, of the Northwest Fur Co., pushed their way up the Red River 
valley into what is now North Dakota and Minnesota; and in 1812 
he Earl of Selkirk made the first settlement in the vicinity of Winni- 
reg. Many French traders probably found their way south into 
that part of the Red River valley lying in North Dakota, for Lewis 
ind Clark mention their presence on the Missouri as early as 1804. 
_ Not much is known of the rocks underlying the Red River valley, 
or they are effectually concealed by the glacial drift and by the 
‘ediment deposited in Lake Agassiz, but their presence here and there 
1as been revealed by deep drilling. The deepest well which was sunk 
iear Moorhead penetrated lake sediment and glacial drift to a depth 
rf 220 feet, Cretaceous shale with some sandstone for 150 feet, and 
he underlying granite to a depth of more than 1,500 feet. This 
‘egion is therefore near the eastern edge of the great mass of Cre- 
aceous strata which extends as an unbroken sheet to the Rocky 
Mountains and which can be seen at many places along the Northern 
?acific Railway. The sea in which these materials were laid down 
nust at some stage of its existence have extended farther east than 
the Red River valley, for a few exposures of these rocks have been 
ound in the valley of the Mississippi. (See route map, sheet 2, p. 26.) 
A few years ago a traveler crossing the old lake bottom just before 
the wheat harvest would have seen mile after mile of grain, which on 
t clear breezy day would have looked much like the waves rolling 
ieross the water, and he could almost have imagined Lake Agassiz to 
ye still in existence. In recent years the crops in this region have 
decome more diversified and now instead of the unbroken stand of 
vheat that stretched to the horizon line, the traveler sees interspersed 
with the wheat other grains and flax, and only here and there is the 
wheat grown in large areas’ The rich black soil extends in almost 
inbroken regularity across the valley and it is under a high state of 
sultivation, even to the very edge of the railroad track. Probably 
there are few regions in the world in which the soil is more fertile than 


38 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


that of the Red River valley. The silt where it is wet and compacted 
has much the character of clay, but it differs from clay in that it 
contains fine sand, powdered limestone, and carbonaceous matter, 
which make it less coherent. 

There are some tracts of very compact and heavy soil upon the 
level bottoms, ranging in area from a few square yards to a few square 
miles, that are known as ‘‘gumbo spots.’’ On account of the imper- 
meable character of the clay, drainage is difficult and in places 
alkaline salts tend to accumulate. 

West of Maple River, which the railway crosses near the village of 
Mapleton, the land rises steadily westward, but the surface of the old 
lake bed is so smooth and the ascent so regular that it is scarcely 

perceptible to the eye. This is a region of great 
Mapleton. farms, and one of the largest and most noted of these 
Elevation 929 feet. 18 the Dalrymple farm, between Mapleton and Cassel- 
ceoe een aaies, 0D, Which comprises 21,000 acres of cultivated land. 

As these big holdings were the pioneers in the Red 
River valley and led directly to its agricultural development, their 
history may prove to be interesting at this place. 

About 1870 the banking firm of Jay Cooke & Co. became the 
financial agent of the Northern Pacific Railroad Co. and advertised 
widely the great agricultural possibilities of the region to be traversed 
by the railway. Its glowing statements were attacked through the 
press and otherwise, and much skepticism was expressed as to whether 
or not the country was of any value for agriculture. In order to 
meet these criticisms, certain members of the Northern Pacific direc- 
torate determined that they themselves must furnish incontestable 
proof that the land could be farmed to advantage. T. H. Canfield 
purchased 5,500 acres at Lake Park, Minn.; Charlemagne Tower, 
3,000 acres at Glyndon, Minn.; and Benjamin P. Cheney and George 
W. Cass, 6,000 acres at Casselton, N. Dak. These farms were at once 
put under expert cultivation, and the result of the experiment showed 
the Lake Park region and the Red River valley to contain some of 
the finest wheat lands in the world. The demonstration of this fact 
caused a large and steady immigration to this region in the years 
immediately following. 

The town of Casselton is situated in the heart of the great wheat 
belt and was named for George W. Cass, a former president of the 

Northern Pacific Co. In the vicinity of Casselton and 

Casselton. westward for some distance many flowing water wells 
Elevation 961 feet. . have been drilled. These wells derive their supply from 
Se eealomanitks,  tWO sources—the glacial drift and the underlying Cre- 
taceous rocks. The water obtained from the glacial 

drift is of fairly good quality and can be obtained at depths ranging 
from 40 to 200 feet, but the amount of water varies considerably 
' 

5 





THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 39 


and several of the wells have ceased to flow. The water from the 
Cretaceous rocks is slightly salty and not suited for irrigation, but 
ean be used for domestic purposes. The depth of the producing 
wells ranges from 250 to 500 feet, and the flow of water is more con- 
stant than that from the glacial drift. The water-bearing rock is 
‘supposed to be the Dakota sandstone, which belongs at the base of 
‘the Upper Cretaceous. The water is Snel to enter the Dakota 
‘sandstone in Wyoming, where the sandstone is upturned against the 
Rocky Mountains, or in the region of the Black Hills. It follows the 
sandstone bed beneath the Great Plains and appears where the sand- 
stone rises and approaches the surface in eastern North Dakota. 
The village of Wheatland, appropriately named, is situated at the 
| place where the railway crosses the lowest prominent beach of Lake 
Agassiz, the houses in the eastern part of the village 
| Wheatland. ae a cemetery north of the track being situated on 
| Elevation 1,016 feet. the beach ridge. When the surface of the lake stood 
| Seen aites, ab this level the water was 90 fect deep at Fargo, in 
the center of the valley, and it remained at this height 
long enough for the waves to heap up a distinct ridge of sand and fin- 
| gravel. Thee is known as the Campbell beach, from the town of that 
‘name in Wilkin County, Minn., through which it extends. 
| West of Wheatland there are, here and there, traces of similar 
beaches, showing that Lake Agassiz stood at different levels above 










Herman Beach 





Late Agasstx 
| FIGURE 5.—Section of Herman beach ridge west of Magnolia, N. Dak., showing the relation of the sand 
and gravel beds composing the beach to the surface of glacial Lake Agassiz. 

_that of the Campbell stage, but at none of them long enough to form 
-a decided and well-marked beach, except at the highest of the series. 
This is known as the Herman beach. It can easily be seen from the 
train just 5 miles west of the Campbell beach, or three-fourths of a 
mile west of Magnolia. (See fig. 5.) This beach ridge is even better 
developed than the Campbell beach and is marked by an old gravel 
pit on the right (north) of the track. The ridge is 15 feet high and 
about 150 feet wide ontop. In the pit the beds of gravel dip about 20° 
_to the west, or away from the open water of the lake, showing that 
the waves carried the sand and gravel over the top and deposited 
them on the back slope of the ridge. When Lake Agassiz stood at 
this level the water at Fargo was about 175 feet deep, but it rose no 
higher, because at that stage it found an outlet to the Mississippi 
through the valley of Minnesota River. 

_ From the Herman beach a comprehensive view can be had of the 
_ broad expanse of the Red River valley. Above the level of the beach 


40 


GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


the old surface of till and outwash gravel is in its original condition, 
not having been smoothed and covered by a coating of mud, as was 


that of the submerged area. 


West of the Herman beach the railway crosses a low, broad ridge 
by a deep cut in glacial till and sand. This cut is 4 _ 


Buffalo. 


Elevation 1,226 feet. 
Population 241. 
St. Paul 288 miles. 


transported by the ice. 


miles long, extending as far as the village of Buffalo, 
and it affords excellent exposures of the materials 
The low ridge through which ~ 


the cut is made is a faint moraine, marking the posi- — 
tion of the front of the glacier! that occupied the valley of Red River 
before it became a lake, as described on page 382. | 


1 The glacial features of North Dakota 
are the result of the invasion of the ice 
sheet that originated west of Hudson Bay. 
At the time of its greatest expansion this 
glacier covered all of North and South 
Dakota east of Missouri River with ice 
probably hundreds and perhaps thou- 
sands of feet in thickness. 

A study of the materials brought down 
from the north shows that glaciation was 
not confined to a single stage of growth 
and decadence of the ice sheets, but that 
there were several advances and retreats, 
and that the amount of movement ac- 
complished in the various stages differed 
greatly. These fluctuations appear to 
have been due to the fact that at times 
the climate was favorable for the devel- 
opment and advance of the ice, and that 
at other times it was milder and the ice 
wasted away until large tracts previously 
covered were again in condition for the 
return of animal and vegetable life. 
During the warmer epochs soils were de- 
veloped, and the glacial materials spread 
over the land were sculptured by newly 
established drainage systems. The re- 
turn of colder weather and the advance 
of the ice over most of the area previously 
glaciated destroyed many of the new 
surface features and buried the whole 
under a new deposit of drift. 

The extent of the several ice sheets 
which invaded the Dakotas during the 
Wisconsin stage of glaciation is shown on 
the sketch map on sheet 5 (p. 44). North- 
eastern Minnesota was covered by ice that 
came from the direction of Labrador. 
Sweeping southwestward and southward 
around the west end of this ice mass came 


another great glacier from the region west 
of Hudson Bay, which divided at the head 
of the Coteau des Prairies (for meaning 
of the word ‘‘ coteau’’ see p. 45), or just 


south of the South Dakota line, into two — 


ereat lobes, one of which, known as the 
Minnesota Glacier, passed southward up 
the broad valley of Red River and across 


Minnesota into Iowa as far as the present — 


city of Des Moines, and the other, known 
as the Dakota Glacier, moved down the 
James River valley to the Missouri, spread- 
ing westward upon the flanks of the Co- 
teau du Missouri. The farthest extent of 
these lobes is marked by a well-developed 
ridge, called the Altamont moraine. 

The Altamont moraine is crossed by 
the Northern Pacific Railway between 
Sterling and Driscoll and from this point 


oh 


recedes far to the east, crossing the line © 
between North and South Dakota about — 


75 miles east of Missouri River. 
South Dakota its outline is somewhat 


Ing 


irregular, showing that small lobes of ice 
pushed out here and there far beyond the ~ 


principal mass. 
Altamont moraine bounds Missouri River 
on the east, and it is probable that the 
front of the ice and its accompanying 


In general, however, the — 


moraine were largely instrumental in de-_ 


termining the course of that stream. 


The Dakota lobe of the glacier filled 
all the country between Missouri and — 
Big Sioux rivers, but east of the Big — 
Sioux there was a strip of country free 
from ice, which extended, as shown on — 
the map, nearly to the North Dakota line. — 


The marginal deposit indicating the 
first halt in the glacial wasting and re-— 


treat is the Gary moraine, which is 


a chanel 


SHEET No. 4 


a 


| 
| 
| 
| 


sites 


MINNESOTA - NORTH DAKOTA 





30Kilometers 


pet 


SEA LEVEL 








own every 10 miles 


ed | mile apart 


MKragness 





reg Haggart 








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2,926 


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EL./087 
vford 


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Dilworth 
EL.933 


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422YS 


09, BOUNDARY 
SN TBEY LINE A 








SHEET No.4 





= : BULLETIN 611 7 | eee ; aces 
SS ee a ee eee MINNESOTA- NORTH DAKOTA 


Be | 
| 








1 
Scale 500,000 
Approximately 8 miles to | inch 
§ 


i) ? : 10 15 Z20Miles 


1 oO 5 10 15 20 25 30Kilometers 
tlh rechacadbacedecnrd needle deel seofina atric tone ieee Serai wsaloesdemedorie Sis areiolsedieocberatamedtinned 


PEE TES 


| Contour interval 200 feet 
ELEVATIONS iN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 





The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles 


The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart / 


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GLACIAL LAKE AGASSIZ AT THE TIME OF ITS GREATEST EXPANSION | L®ilicel €. eee i MB Addison : Pete oh ee & 
THE LAKE, CAUSED BY ICE BLOCKADE ON THE NORTHEAST, WAS 700 MILES LONG : | ( ; Herne 4 ay fF 
AND MORE THAN 200 MILES BROAD -\ * map!© es * poe q as y Bios 
| pin J Williams® BS chaible pe 
Bie ee gas : Ls 
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ENGRAVES ANU PRINTED BY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


“e THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 


4] 


Just beyond Buffalo the traveler can obtain on the left the first 
extended view across the prairies and lowlands of the valley of 


Sheyenne River. 


This broad stretch of country is well farmed, and 


the fields of grain are a sure indication of its prosperity. 
Near Tower City (see sheet 5, p. 44) the railway is located in a 
broad flat that is only imperfectly drained by the headwaters of 
Maple River, as described on page 43; and then 


Tower City. 


Elevation 1,194 feet. 
Population 452. 
St. Paul 294 miles. 


begins the long, steady ascent to the summit of Alta 
Ridge, which can be seen in the distance from Oriska. 
This ridge, one of the most pronounced topographic 


features that will be seen between the Red River 
valley and Missouri River, is capped by drift which represents the 





crossed by the Northern Pacific Railway 
just west of Crystal Springs. It les upon 
the Coteau du Missouri and is closely as- 
sociated with the Altamont moraine, the 
high coteau front serving as a wall or dam 
which held back the ice in its forward 
‘movement. The great amount of material 
‘in these outer moraines and the large size 
of the hills indicate that the edge of the 
st ice sheet probably remained against 
the coteau for a considerable time. South 


bof the Northern Pacific Railway the Gary 


ai is roughly parallel with the Alta- 
‘mont moraine. In some places they 
‘coincide, but in others they are nearly 
50 miles apart. The glacier at the time 
the Gary moraine was built extended as 
far south as it did during the greatest ex- 
tension, but the lobe was narrower, aver- 
‘aging not more than 80 miles in width, 
Band the point of division between this 
obe and the Minnesota lobe had receded 
to the North Dakota line. 

_ The next stage in the recession of the 
ice front is not marked by a single large 
and well-defined moraine, but by a belt 
of more or less disconnected ridges or 
heaps of morainal deposits, called the 
Antelope moraine. The number of these 
ridges indicates that the ice front fluctu- 
ated back and forth across the belt. The 
ridges of the Antelope moraine are crossed 
by the Northern Pacific line between 
Spiritwood and Eldridge, but they are 
not well marked on either side of James 
The glacier at the Antelope sub- 
stage extended in a long tongue down 
the James River valley as far as Huron, 
8. Dak., but the point of division between 
























the two great lobes had not changed its 
position appreciably from that which it 
occupied in the Gary substage. The 
Antelope moraine is here regarded as in- 
cluding the Kiester moraine, which has 
been recognized only for a few miles south 
of the Northern Pacific Railway and east 
of James River. 

The next important moraine, which has 
been called the Waconia, is crossed by 
the railway between Eckelson and Fox 
lakes and forms the divide between Hud- 
son Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. It 
marks the first definite and prolonged 
halt in the retreat of the ice front after 
the formation of the Gary moraine. The 
glacier at this stage of the retreat extended 
only a few miles across the State line into 
South Dakota, and its lobe, which at one 
time extended to the mouth of James 
River, was so reduced as to be scarcely 
recognizable and before the next halt had 
disappeared. 

Two more halts in the recession of the 
western margin of the ice are recorded 
along the Northern Pacific line, but these 
were doubtless of slight duration and did 
not produce separate moraines south of 
the railway. The moraine marking the 
earlier of these halts is supposed to be the 
same as a moraine at Fergus Falls, Minn., 
and therefore is called by that name. It 
is well developed in Alta Ridge, 6 miles 
east of Valley City. The second moraine 
is the low ridge east of Buffalo. When 
the ice front retreated east of this moraine, 
the southern part of Red River valley 
became flooded with water, and Lake 
Agassiz was formed. 


42 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


Fergus Falls moraine. Its summit, which is crossed by the railway 
near milepost 59, attains an altitude of 1,454 feet, or 528 feet higher 
than Fargo on the east and 209 feet higher than Valley City on the 
west. On the west there is a sharp descent from Alta Ridge down 
to a broad plain formed by the outwash of material from the glacier 
when it lay just east of the ridge. It is supposed that at the time 
the moraine was formed Sheyenne River was flowing at the same 
level as this plain and that the present valley of that stream had not 
been cut. 

West of Alta Ridge the old line of the railway turned slightly to 
the south and descended into the valley of Sheyenne River, crossing 
the stream but little above the general level of the 
valley bottom. Recently a new “high line” has 
been carried across the valley on a steel trestle 150 
feet high. From this trestle a fine view of Valley 
City and the river can be had. (See Pl. ILI, p. 11.) 
Here the rock underlying the glacial drift is exposed, and it is the 
first exposure of this kind that can be seen from the train west of the 
Mississippi Valley. Soft dark shale may be seen in either bluff from 
the ‘“‘high line” or in the sides of the coulee* as the train descends 
by the “low line” to the bottom of the valley. This shale contains 
fossil shells, which are similar to those of animals living in the ocean 
of to-day; hence it is believed that it was deposited when this part of 
the country was beneath the waters of a sea.° 

At Valley City the Northern Pacific is crossed by the branch of 
the Soo Line that connects Moose Jaw, on the main line of the Cana- 
dian Pacific Railway, with St. Paul. 


Valley City. 


Elevation 1,245 feet.t 
Population 4,606. 
St. Paul 310 miles. 








1 This is the altitude at the old station, 
which is near river level. The new sta- 
tion is about 150 feet higher. 

2'The term ‘‘coulee’’ is generally applied 
throughout the northern tier of States to 
any steep-sided gulch or water channel 
and at times even to a stream valley of 
considerable length. The term was 
doubtless derived from the French verb 
couler, signifying to flow. This meaning 
of ‘‘coulee’’ should not be confused with 
the geologic meaning of the word, which 
signifies a solidified stream or sheet of 
lava. 

3 During the later half of the Creta- 
ceous period the sea covered what is now 
the region of the Great Plains and the 
Rocky Mountains as far west as the 
Wasatch Range in Utah and extended 
from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic 
Ocean. The incursion of the sea over 





this area was due to the relative sinking 
of the land. As the land sank the waters 
advanced, and the waves and currents 
washed and sorted the sediments brought 
down by the streams. The coarser sand 
and gravel were left near the shore, but 
the finer silt was widely distributed over 
the sea bottom. As the sea gradually 
deepened and the shore line advanced 


the silt covered up the sand; the sand 


was cemented together as sandstone and 
the silt was compacted into shale. Vary- 
ing conditions caused more or less com- 
mingling and interbedding of sand and 
silt, so that numerous beds of sandstone 
and of sandy shale are now encountered 
in drilling into the ancient deposits. 
The long duration of the period in which 
these beds were laid down is indicated 
by the great thickness of fine sediment 
which then accumulated. 


THE 


NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 43 


West of Valley City the surface is more or less irregular and hum- 
mocky, but no definite moraine has been recognized along the: line 
of the railway. In this part of North Dakota many of the glacial 
features are not clear and distinct. It 1s supposed that this is due 
to the fact that the older ice sheets had left pronounced features that 
were only slightly modified by the Wisconsin glacier, and the result 
to-day is that one system of moraines 1s superimposed on others havy- 
ing different patterns, the features being therefore very much confused. 

In the vicinity of Sanborn there are a number of lakes which 
ean be seen from the train, but they are not so attractive as the 
lakes of Minnesota, for they are shallow and highly 
charged with alkali, which in seasons of drought is 
deposited around their margins as a white powder. 
This powder is composed largely of such substances 
as baking soda, washing soda, and other materials 
having similar properties. The water of these lakes is unsuitable for 
drinking but is not too strongly alkaline to be used for watering stock. 
The lakes are generally long and narrow, occupying depressions that 
resemble stream valleys, but the mode of formation of these depres- 
sions has not been determined. At Sanborn a branch line turns to 


Sanborn. 


Elevation 1,468 feet. 
Population 390. 
St. Paul 320 miles. 


the right, leading northward to Cooperstown and McHenry. 
The Waconia moraine, crossed by the Northern 


Eckelson. 


Elevation 1,487 feet. 
Population 327.* 
St. Paul 326 miles. 


1This divide illustrates the poorly 
drained character of the glaciated prai- 
ries and the delicate balance between 
the drainage systems. Although Shey- 
enne and James rivers, the two principal 
streams of this region, flow in nearly par- 
allel courses for 180 miles, and the relief 
of the land between them is generally 
not more than 20 feet, yet the Sheyenne 
ultimately discharges into Hudson Bay 
and the James into the Gulf of Mexico. 
These rivers are very small in proportion 
to the valleys in which they flow, there 


_ being barely sufficient water to maintain 


them as running streams during the sum- 
mer season. 

The drainage area of the Sheyenne 
embraces approximately 10,000 square 


miles, yet the volume of water it dis- 


—<—- — 


charges into Red River is estimated to 
be less than that which flows through 
Valley City, nearly 150 miles upstream. 


_ The loss is due to evaporation and absorp- 
tion as the stream meanders sluggishly 


over the broad, flat bottom of its valley. 





Pacific Railway west of Eckelson (see p. 41), consti- 
tutes the divide between the Hudson Bay and Missis- 
sippi River drainage basins.* 


Several broad and deep coulees enter 
the valley of the Sheyenne from the 
west, but they are occupied only by 
intermittent streams, insignificant in size 
even in times of heavy rain; and the only 
land that is really drained is that com- 
prised in short, deep gorges which broad- 
en out rapidly toward the Sheyenne as 
they deploy upon its flood plain. 

The drainage basin of James River is 
much larger than that of the Sheyenne, 
but a gaging station established by the 
United States Geological Survey on the 
James a few miles south of the railway 
was abandoned because there was not, for 
a part of the year, sufficient current to 
turn a water meter. 

In periods of heavy rains and melting 
snows a system of ancient channels is 
occupied by Maple River and its tribu- 
taries; but although these constitute the 
drainage system for an area of more than 
1,000 square miles, ordinarily the run-off 
is insufficient to maintain a permanent 
stream. 


44. GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


Between the Waconia moraine and Spiritwood there are no marked 
features. From Spiritwood westward for a distance of 
Spiritwood. 48 miles no distinctly morainic ridges are visible from 
Elevation 1,500feet. the train, but it is believed that the various ridges 
So palest ees, constituting the Antelope moraine are present in this 
region, for they have been identified in the country 

north and south of the railway. 

Jamestown is a district terminal, and here a branch turns to the 
right to Pingree and Devils Lake, and another to the left down the 

valley of James River to La Moure and Oakes. The 
Jamestown. country is so thoroughly covered with glacial drift 
Elevation 1,429 feet. that the underlying rocks are not visible along the 
soot ats, railway, but deep drilling for water showed that in 

general on the upland the drift is merely sufficient to 
conceal the rocks below, and in some of the larger stream valleys it is 
more than 100 feet deep. This indicates that the valleys of such 
streams as James River were in existence before the glacial epoch, that 
during the occupation of this region by the ice they were deeply filled 
with glacial material, and that since then the streams have succeeded 
only in partly clearing them of this material. 

A deep well at the North Dakota Insane Hospital, in the southern 
part of Jamestown, passed through 118 feet of glacial drift, 1,330 feet 
of Cretaceous shale, and about 200 feet of sandstone that is supposed 
to be the Dakota sandstone, at the base of the Upper Cretaceous. The 
top of this sandstone is about at sea level, and rises eastward at the 
rate of about 84 feet to the mile. 

The chief occupation in the country around Jamestown is agricul- 
ture, the crops being wheat, oats, flax, barley, and vegetables. 

West of Jamestown the railway follows the valley of. Pipestem 
Creek as far as milepost 94.1. At this point the main valley followed 
by the branch road leading to Pingree and Devils Lake comes in from 
the north, but the main railway line keeps directly ahead up. a small 
ravine and reaches the upland near Berner, about 2 miles farther on. 
In this ravine there are many cuts, which afford excellent opportuni- 
ties to study the composition of the drift or till, beneath which in = 
some of the cuts a few feet of Cretaceous shale may be seen. In this 
vicinity the railway is supposed to cross parts of the Antelope moraine, 
but nothing resembling a definite ridge is in sight. | 


The mileposts about Jamestown are | Evidently about 7 miles has been dropped — 
confusing, as the last one to be seen as the | out of the count, but the figures given for 
train enters the yards, nearly a mile east | each town in the side notes in this bulle- 
of the depot, is 99, and the one mentioned | tin represent the distances from St. Paul 
above, where the branch leaves the main | that are given in the Northern Pacific 
line and turns up Pipestem Creek, is 94. | Railway folder for 1915. 


SHEET No. 5 


98° NORTH DAKOTA | 


saat - 











| 
| 
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5 20Miles | 
25 30Kilometers 
SEA LEVEL | 
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1 mile apart | 
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Scale 500,000 
Approximately 8 miles to | inch 


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1 Oo 5 10 15 20 25 30Kilometers 





Contour interval 200 feet 
ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL | 


The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles 


The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 











NORTH DAKOTA 


SHEET No. 5 




































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Sheet No.4 


ENGRAVED AND PRINTED BY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 45 


A few miles west of Eldridge (see sheet 6, p. 46) is the eastern front 

of a low plateau known as the Coteau du Missouri,! which is mentioned 

in all the accounts of early explorations in this part 

Eldridge. of the country. Doubtless in passing across the 

Elevation 1,563 feet. country on foot or with a wagon train the Coteau 

St Paul ett wis, loomed up as a formidable obstacle, but the railway 

traveler of to-day, unless his attention is particularly 

directed to it, would probably cross it without realizing that it is a 
prominent topographic feature. 

At milepost 103 the train begins the ascent of the east front of the 
Coteau, and it reaches the summit just east of Windsor. A compari- 

son of altitudes shows that this summit is almost ex- 
Windsor. actly 300 feet above Eldridge and 435 feet above 
Elevation 1,864 feet. Jamestown. In a mountainous region a ridge 300 
Re ete feet high is hardly worth considering, but in eastern 
| North Dakota a plateau of this height is of the first 
magnitude. The commanding position of the Coteau can better be 
appreciated by a view eastward from milepost 108, at the east end of 
the deep summit cut. This view commands a wide expanse of undu- 
lating plain, which is backed in the distance by the low swell of Alta 
Ridge, east of Valley City. 

As shown on the sketch map on sheet 5 (p. 44), a small moraine 
marks the face of the Coteau north of the railroad. It is probable 
that this is represented by the deep till in the summit cut east of 
Windsor, but the features visible from the train are not strikingly 
morainic in character. 

The glacial features along the line of the railway are not well 
marked, but from Cleveland nearly to Medina there are many 
indications, in the form of hummocks and undrained 
Blevation 1,874 feet, basins, of the morainic character of the topography. 
St. Paul 364 miles. § Beyond this belt the country is gently rolling. The 

scarcity of ranch houses is an indication that this 

Medina. is what was formerly called the ‘‘short-grass coun- 

Elevation 1,816 feet. try,’ but now, in the days of successful dry farming, 
Seapine it has achieved a very different reputation. 

Near Crystal Springs the aspect of the country 

appears to be distinctly morainic in character, but no definite ridge 


Cleveland. 





1 Coteau is a French term signifying a | ing the edgeofa plateau. Suchan escarp- 
small hill or hillock. In the northern | ment is usually dissected, so that at a dis- 
part of the United States it was generally | tance it resembles a range of hills. The 
applied by the early French travelers to | Coteau des Prairies and Coteau du Mis- 
a range of hills or to the escarpment form- | souri are escarpments of this character. 


46 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


can be seen from the train. The tracks cross the Gary moraine (see 
sketch map on sheet 5, p. 44) a short distance west 
Crystal Springs. of this town, but as the railway follows an, old outlet 
Elevation 1,802 feet. channel, the moraine, as seen from the train, does not 
Population 216.* : : c 
St. Paul 382 miles, appear to be particularly prominent. A mile or so 
to the left (south) of the track the moraine is strongly 
developed, consisting of a ridge at least 125 feet higher than the 
plain on the west. The gravel showing in big pits near Ladoga 
is outwash material from the front of the ice when it built the 
moraine. 
Beyond Crystal Springs the country is drift covered but generally 
flat. This topography continues to Tappen, a flour- 
Tappen. ishing village in a belt of good farming land. Seem- 
aa oie feet. ingly the glacier in passing over this country had 
St. Paul 389 miles, Little effect except to smooth off and fill up most of 
the irregularities in the old topography. 
In the vicinity of Dawson the most pronounced geologic and 
topographic feature is the Altamont moraine, which was produced 
by the Wisconsin ice sheet at the time of its maxi- 
Dawson. mum extension. As shown on the sketch map on 
sna Mares sheet 5 (p. 44), there is a great reentrant angle in 
’ this moraine almost due east of Bismarck, at about 
the place where it is crossed by the Northern Pacific Railway. 
Owing to this reentrant the moraine trends parallel with the track 
and is visible for several miles. West of Dawson there are heavy 
deposits of drift which probably belong to this moraine. They 
are especially prominent in a cut a mile long between mileposts 
147 and 148. 
The same rolling topography occurs in the vicinity of Steele 
and as far west as the western margin of the 
Steele. moraine. Outwash gravel is also abundant about 
Elevation 1,880 feet. Steele, as is indicated by the hills of gravel and 
Population 500. é : : : 
St. Paul 402miles. by the pits from which the railway has procured 
oravel for ballast. 
At Driscoll (see sheet 7, p. 54) is the highest land that is crossed 
by the Northern Pacific Railway east of Missouri River. Near mile- 
post 163 an old drainage channel, including a chain 
Driscoll. of shallow lakes, crosses the moraine obliquely in a_ 
Elevation 1,895 feet. southwesterly direction. West of this gap and north 
coy is, Of Sterling the hills rise again in a narrow morainic 
ridge which extends to the northeast for a long dis- 
tance. Beyond Driscoll the railway gradually descends to Missouri 
River, which in the early days was the great highway to the north- 





ZO0Miles 


25 30Kilometers 


LEVEL 


every 10 miles 
ile apart 


32 J asf a 


/ go 


ae Pon 1867 
370 


here Zouthdown 
2 of, [EL 1810 


Bec ee 


[ 


Ast of and including the Atamont moraine was 


last or Wisconsin stage of glaciation 


VY 


> 


ENGRAVED AND PRINTEO GY THE U.S. 


SHEET No. 6 
NORTH DAKOTA 





GEOLOGICAL SURV 





GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 


OF THE 


NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 


From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington. 


Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
information collected with the assistance of this company 


UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 
David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 


L9OiD 


Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 
lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 
Sheet of that name. 


| Ee lea lee. Ghes 99°30" 


BULLETIN 611 , rs : SHEET No. 6 - 
NORTH DAKOTA 









Approximately 8 miles to 1 inch 


ey P Ip 20Miles 
io 10 15 20 25 30Kilameters 
i Diarae Wrirotantetict decid: bikers oe 


Contour interval 206 feet 
ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 





The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles 


The crossties on the railroads are spaced i mile apart 


Pee 
| 











eet | 5 
ae Slack . $ 
900 
; x: sg oats, yy to + 
: “S ee ie | Protea O Ny 
f © 7 Ss 
} 27810 mie & ta Sal | EL 78980 S 
fs e) 
hoes: 
\ 
4 
Ei 
s\ 
. + 
“ 3 
< ow 
=e 
cluding the Altamont moraine was 
onsin stage of diaciation my 
= E r 
e? 
e&!?-. ‘ of 
SS City 0 
99° 


ENGRAVEO AND PRINTED BY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC 


47 


ROUTE, 


western part of the United States and which was first thoroughly 


explored by Lewis and Clark.! 


1 One of the most noteworthy explora- 
tions that was successfully carried out in 
the nineteenth century was that of the 
headwaters of Missouri and Columbia 
rivers by Meriwether Lewis and William 
Clark in the years 1804-1806, and as the 
Northern Pacific Railway follows in a 
general way a partof the same route and is 
theindirect result oftheir efforts 1t seems 
appropriate to give herea brief sketch of 
the expedition and of the commanders. 
It is so easy now to cross the continent 
in comfort and even in luxury that the 
difficulties and hardships of such a jour- 
ney in 1804 can not readily be realized. 

Meriwether Lewis was born August 18, 
1774, near Charlottesville, Va., of one of 
the distinguished families of the State. 
He had been for two years the private 
secretary of President Jefferson and was 
serving in that capacity when he was 
selected by the President as commander 
of the exploring expedition to the Pacific 
coast. Upon the completion of his long 
trip Capt. Lewis returned to Washington, 
-but soon afterward (Mar. 3, 1807) he was 
appointed governor of Louisiana and de- 
parted for St. Louis to assume the duties 
of that office. These occupied his atten- 
tion for two years, when he again found it 
necessary to visit Washington. He first 
planned the trip by water, but after going 
as far down the river as Chickasaw Bluffs 
(Memphis) he changed his mind and 
started east across the country. On the 
‘way he committed suicide or was mur- 
dered October 11, 1809, in Lewis County, 
Tenn. 

William Clark was born in Caroline 
County, Va., August 1, 1770. He hada 
number of brothers and sisters, of whom 
George Rogers Clark, an elder brother, 
achieved distinction as a military com- 
mander. When William Clark was 14 
years old the family moved to the place 
then called the Falls of the Ohio, now 
Louisville, Ky. The town at that time 
| consisted merely of a few cabins clustered 
around a fortification which had been 
erected by Clark’s elder brother. When 
the exploring trip to the Pacific coast was 


4 
5 





undertaken Clark was selected by Lewis 
as joint head of the party. Soon after his 
return he was made Indian agent for 
Louisiana, with headquarters at St. Louis, 
and on February 27, 1811, he was ap- 
pointed by President Madison brigadier 
general of the militia of Louisiana. On 
July 1, 1813, he was made governor of 
Missouri, an office which he held until 
the Territory was admitted to the Union 
in 1821. In May, 1822, President Monroe 
appointed him Superintendent of Indian 
Affairs, and he held that post until his 
death at St. Louis September 1, 1838. 
His funeral was the most impressive that 
had ever been held in that city. 

When Thomas Jefferson was inaugu- 
rated President of the United States, in 
1801, our country did not extend west of 
Mississippi River, and already much fric- 
tion had arisen between Spain and the 
United States regarding the navigation of 
that stream. Jefferson fully realized that 
for the complete development of the Mis- 
sissippi Valley it was necessary that we 
should control the mouth of the river. 
Accordingly he began negotiations with 
Spain for the purchase of New Orleans 
and the Floridas. 

Louisiana was originally a French pos- 
session through the discoveries of La Salle. 
It had been an expensive and troublesome 
province for France and for this reason it 
was secretly conveyed to Spain in 1762. 
In the year 1800, however, it was by an- 
other secret treaty ceded back to France. 
It was therefore a surprise to our negoti- 
ators to find that it was France and not 
Spain with which they would have to 
treat. 

At the time negotiations were opened 
Napoleon was expecting a declaration of 
war by England and the seizure by her of 
the mouth of the Mississippi. This threat- 
ened his supremacy in America as well as 
in Europe, and in order to anticipate this 
move he decided to cede to the United 
States not only New Orleans and the Flor- 
idas but the entire province of Louisiana, 
which was an empire in extent. Out of 
it has been formed the States of Arkansas, 


48 


GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


The village of Sterling is situated at the outer border of the Alta. 
mont moraine, at the western limit of the great ice sheet that occupied 
this region in the last stage of the glacial epoch, 


Sterling. 


Elevation 1,834 feet. 
Population 198,* 
St. Paul 421 miles. 


Below it and stretching far to the west is a plain 
which was formed of clay, sand, and gravel that were 
accumulated by the ice and swept along to its outer 


margin. From Sterling may be obtained an extended 
view of the outwash plain, toward the south, and far beyond the more 
rugged country bordering Missouri River. 








Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota, 
and South Dakota; nearly all of Louist- 
ana, Oklahoma, Kansas, Wyoming, and 
Montana, about one-third of Minnesota, 
and one-third of Colorado. The treaty by 
which all of this territory was acquired 
was executed in Paris April 30, 1803. 
The compensation was $11,250,000 and 
the assumption by the United States of 
the ‘French spoliation claims,®’ estimated 
to amount to $3,750,000. It is an inter- 
esting fact that some of these claims are 
still in process of adjudication. 

The extent and boundaries of the prov- 
ince of Louisiana were never definitely 
stated. In the treaty the territory was 
described merely as being the same as 
that ceded by Spain to France by the 
treaty of San Ildefonso. [From this it 
appears that the territory sold to the 
United States comprised that part of the 
drainage basin of the Mississippi which 
lies west of the river, with the exception 
of such parts as were then held by Spain. 
The lack of precise definition was not 
objected to by the American commission- 
ers, as they probably foresaw that it might 
prove of service in future negotiations 
with other powers. 

At that time all the territory on the 
Pacific coast now included in the State of 
California was claimed by Spain, and the 
great region later to be embraced in the 
States of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho 
was a sort of no man’s land. Subse- 
quently, in treating with Great Britain 
regarding the northern boundary of the 
United States, this region was claimed by 
the United States on three grounds: (1) 
Discovery and occupation, (2) Louisiana 
purchase, and (3) cession from Spain. At 
first none of these claims were recog- 
nized by Great Britain, and by the treaty 


of peace in 1818 it was agreed that the 
country immediately south of the forty: 
ninth parallel and west of the ‘Stony’ 
(Rocky) Mountains should remain oper 
to both parties. In 1846 the Webster. 
Ashburton treaty with Great Britain fixed 
the northern boundary of the United 
States west of the Rocky Mountains at the 
forty-ninth parallel as far as the Strait o 
Fuca, and thus Oregon, Washington, and 
Idaho finally were recognized as belong: 
ing to this country. 

On the acquisition of Louisiana an ex: 
pedition was planned by President Jeffer: 
son ‘‘to explore the Missouri River and 
such principal streams of it as, by its course 
and communication with the waters of the 
Pacific Ocean, whether the Columbia, 
Oregon [another name for the Columbial], 
Colorado, or any other river, may offer the 
most direct and practicable water commu: 
nication across the continent for the pur- 
pose of commerce.’’ After receiving the 
requisite instructions Capt. Lewis left 
Washington July 5, 1803, and proceeded 
to Louisville, where he was joined by 
Capt. Clark. They arrived at St. Louis 
in December, but found that the Spanish 
commandant of the province, not having 
received an official account of the trans- 
fer, was obliged by the general policy of 
his Government to prevent strangers from 
passing through Spanish territory. The 
party therefore camped on the east side 
of the Mississippi, where they passed the 
winter in making the necessary prepara- 
tions for setting out early in the spring, 
but they did not leave until after the 
cession of Louisiana had been formally 
announced. 

The party when it left St. Louis com- 
prised, besides the two officers, nine young 
men from Kentucky, fourteen soldiers of 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 


49 


The outwash plain with its silty soil is well adapted to the raising 
of flax, wheat, oats, and barley and supports a thriving farming com- 
munity, the center of which is McKenzie, the junc- 


McKenzie. 


Elevation 1,725 feet. 
Population 191.* 
St. Paul 427 miles. 


tion point of a branch line of railway running south 
to Linton, 45 miles distant. 
railway follows down Apple Creek to Missouri River. 


West of McKenzie the 


The width of the Apple Creek valley, which is much 
ereater than that of even larger streams in the vicinity, indicates 
clearly that at some time in the past this stream must have been 





the United States Army who had volun- 
teered their services, two French water 
men, an interpreter and hunter, a black 
servant belonging to Capt. Clark, and a 
corporal, six soldiers, and nine water men 
who were to accompany the party as far 
as the Mandan villages. 

The party finally embarked on the mo- 
mentous voyage of discovery up Missouri 
River on May 14, 1804. The letter from 
President Jefferson instructed them to 
gather information on a great variety of 
subjects, including ‘‘the soil and face of 
the country, its growth and vegetable 
productions; the animals of the country, 
and especially those not known in the 
United States; the mineral productions 
of every kind, but more particularly 
metals, limestone, pit coal, saltpeter, sa- 
lines, and mineral waters * * *; vol- 
canic appearances; and climate.’’ They 
were particularly advised to cultivate 
friendly relations with the Indians and 
to make exhaustive notes regarding their 
habits and customs, their family and 
tribal relations, and the extent and lim- 
its of their territorial possessions. They 
carried out these instructions so fully 
that the summer was passed and the au- 
tumn well advanced before they reached 
the North Dakota region. By October 26 
the weather had become so severe that 
they went into winter quarters 7 or 8 
miles below the mouth of Knife River 
and 50 miles or so above the present town 
of Bismarck. Here they built a stockade 
which they called Fort Mandan, after the 
tribe of Indians inhabiting this part of 
the country. 

_ They spent the winter in procuring 
supplies for the camp, in friendly inter- 
course with the Indians, and in visiting 


95558°—Bull, 611--15——4 


the scattered French and English traders 
who were dealing with the Indians on 
both sides of the Canadian line. On 
April 7, 1805, the permanent party, which 
had been increased by the interpreter, 
Toussaint Charboneau, and his Indian 
wife, Sacajawea (sak-a-ja-we’a, meaning 
bird woman), again set out on their jour- 
ney up the great river. They were soon 
beyond the range of the fur trader and 
they saw no white man until they re- 
turned to this region the following year. 
All went well until they came to the 
Great Falls of the Missouri, which the 
Indians had described to them. After a 
laborious portage around the falls they 
proceeded onward, searching for a path 
through the ‘Shining Mountains,’’ which 
lay in rugged masses before them. 

Their instructions were to explore the 
best route from the Missouri to the Co- 
lumbia, but, although they had fairly 
reliable information from the Indians re- 
garding the headwaters of the Missouri, 
they were completely at sea regarding the 
source of the Columbia. For this reason 
they desired very much to find Indian 
guides to pilot them across the mountains. 
Sacajawea, a member of the Snake tribe, 
who had been captured by the Mandans 
when she was a young girl and carried off 
to the Indian towns in North Dakota, 
hoped that she might see some of her 
people inhabiting the mountain region 
at the head of the Missouri and procure 
from them the necessary information and 
assistance. 

Above Great Falls the river swings far 
to the west, approaching the mountains, 
and the leaders looked anxiously for signs 
of Indians, but none could be found. To 
make the matter worse, the river here 


50 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


much larger than it is at the present time. The increased volume 0} 
water in Apple Creek was due to the fact that it received a large pari 
of the drainage of the ice sheet that piled up the Altamont moraine 
Much of the clay, sand, and gravel washed out from the ice was carriec 
down to Missouri River and swept southward by its mighty current 
but a large amount was dropped along Apple Creek, fillmg the valle) 
to a considerable depth. Since the disappearance of the ice the 
stream has cut a channel in this material 70 or 80 feet deep. Thi 
uplands on both sides of the valley of Apple Creek have only a thir 
veneer of glacial drift. (See footnote on p. 54.) 

The great amount of cutting done by Apple Creek when it wa: 
flooded by water from the erika? ice is shown by the width of it 


flood plain where the valley joins that of Missouri River. 


At the Stat 


penitentiary 2 miles east of Bismarck the valley of Apple Creek has ; 


changes its course and they were forced 
to travel away from the mountains for a 
long distance; but on coming to the three 
forks of the Missouri Sacajawea remem- 
bered the country and saw the spot where 
she had been captured many years be- 
fore. The expedition proceeded up Jef- 
ferson River to its head and crossed the 
Continental Divide (at Lemhi Pass) into 
Idaho. Here they met the Snake In- 
dians, Sacajawea even finding her brother 
and sister, but after repeated efforts they 
decided that it was impossible to make 
their way down Salmon River to the Co- 
lumbia, so they turned northward, cross- 
ing the range again, and followed down 
the Bitterroot Valley until on September 
10 they came within 8 miles of the place 
where Missoula, Mont., is now situated. 
Here they turned to the left up what is 
now known as the Lolo trail and crossed the 
Coeur d’Alene Mountains, arriving at the 
mouth of Snake River October 16. From 
this point they rapidly drifted down the 
Columbia to the Pacific Ocean and went 
into winter quarters December 7 in a 
stockade which they named Fort Clat- 
sop, near the site of Astoria, Oreg. They 
remained here, without seeing any vessel 
from which they could obtain supplies, 
until March 23, 1806, when they left Fort 
Clatsop on their eastward journey. 

The party returned over practically the 
same route to the Bitterroot Valley, where 
it was divided, Capt. Lewis making his 
way by Missoula and up Blackfoot River, 
along the route followed by the Indians 


in going to the plains to hunt buffalo, anc 
Capt. Clark going back to the head ¢ 
Jefferson River to recover their canoes 
which had been cached at that place 
Capt. Lewis crossed the Continental Di 
vide at Lewis and Clark Pass and the 
made an attempt to explore the pass a 
the head of Marias River (now utilize 
by the Great Northern Railway), bu 
trouble with the Indians prevented hur 
from reaching the mountains, so he en 
barked on the Missouri and floated dow 
to the mouth of the Yellowstone, wher 
the two parties were to meet again 0 
their homeward journey. 

Capt. Clark crossed through the Bi 
hole country and, after getting the boat 
floated down Jefferson River to Thre 
Forks, where his party again dividec 
some going on down Missouri River 1 
join Lewis, while Capt. Clark and a fe 
others, including the faithful Sacajawe 
as guide, started across the country 1 
Yellowstone River. They crossed Boz 
man Pass July 15, 1806, and reached Mi 
souri River at Livingston the same da} 
They passed rapidly down the strean, 
reaching the mouth of Tongue Riw 
(Miles City) on July 29 and the mout, 
of Yellowstone River August 3. The 
were slightly ahead of Capt. Lewis ar 
the party was not united until Augu_ 
12, when they all came together at # 
mouth of Little Knife River, N. Da 
The rest of the journey was uneventf 
and they reached St. Louis Septemb 
23, 1806, 





_ Elevation 1,692 feet. 
- Population 5,443. 


a a 


ee 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE, 


OL 


width of 4 miles, whereas the width of the Missouri Valley rarely 
exceeds 3 miles. On this flood plain, known as the ‘‘second bottom,” 
is Fort Lincoln, to the left (south). This is the only military post now 
maintamed near the Canadian border between Fort Snelling, at St. 
Paul, and Fort Assinniboine, at Havre, Mont. Opposite the peni- 
tentiary the Northern Pacific crosses a branch of the Soo Line which 
extends up the river as far as Washburn. 

Bismarck, the capital of the State, was named in honor of the great 
German chancellor. This town was the western 
terminus of the Northern Pacific Railway from 
1873, when all construction work was stopped by 
the financial panic, to 1878, and was originally 
called Edwinton, for Edwin F. Johnson, the first 
chief engineer of the road. 

Those who are in the habit of reading the daily weather reports 
may have noted that Bismarck has about as great arange of tempera- 
ture throughout the year as any other place where observations are 
recorded. Jn summer the thermometer occasionally registers 100° 
or more, and in winter it is frequently as low as 40° below zero. 
The precipitation is only 18 or 19 inches a year, compared with 28 
inches at Minneapolis. This difference in the amount of moisture 
received is largely the cause of the difference in the appearance of 


Bismarck. 


St. Paul 446 miles. 


the two regions. 


West of the station at Bismarck the railway skirts the eastern bluffs 


_of the river for a distance of 2 miles upstream and then crosses on a 
steel bridge to the west side.' 





1 At present Missouri River has little 
effect on the commercial and industrial 


life of the northwestern part of the United 


States, but before the construction of the 


_ transcontinental railways it was a most 
' important factor, first in the exploration 
_ of that part of the country and second in 


its commercial development. 
The country about Bismarck and Man- 


| dan was formerly inhabited by the Man- 


dan Indians. The surviving remnant of 


this tribe occupies the Fort Berthold 


Reservation, some 60 or 70 miles farther 


up the river, but almost every day groups 


ee ee ee ee ee ane 


} 
| 


of these Indians can be seen about the 


station at Mandan or on the local trains of 
the river branch. 

The earliest recorded visit of a white 
man to these Indians was that of Veran- 


| drye in 1738-1742, when he attempted to 


cross the continent to the Pacific coast. 
David Thompson, of the Northwest Fur 


Co., was here in, 1797, and Lewis and 
Clark wintered about 50 miles north of 
Bismarck in 1804-5. After that date 
many explorers and traders came this 
way, gradually extending their opera- 
tions westward until they finally overran 
the whole region, even including the 
rougher parts of the Rocky Mountains. 
Supplies were sent to the fur-trading sta- 
tions by boat up the Missouri from St. 
Louis, and the furs obtained from the 
Indians found their way to the outside 
world by the same route. The river at 
that time was a silt-laden shifting stream, 
just as it is to-day, and great difficulty 
was experienced in getting supplies to its 
upper waters. Theriver traffic was greatly 
stumulated by discoveries of gold in Mon- 
tana in 1863, and light-draft steamboats 
were employed in the trade. This traffic 
continued to increase until the completion 
of the Northern Pacific Railway, when 


GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


52 


The town of Mandan, named for the tribe of Indians that formerly 
occupied this part of the country, is on the west side of the Missouri. 
It is essentially a railway town, being a division termi- 
nal. In coming from the east the traveler has had 
very few opportunities to see the rocks underlying the 
glacial drift, but west of Mandan the drift is thin or 
lacking and the bedded rocks are much more con- 
spicuous than they are east of that place. In places about Mandan 
they are exposed in badlands, as shown in Plate IV, A. 

A deep well that was drilled at Mandan a number of years ago with 
the hope of obtaining water for railway and town use penetrated 
sandstone and shale much like the surface rocks to a depth of 470 
feet and then nothing but shale like that seen at Jamestown to a depth 
of 2,000 feet. The drill probably went nearly to the Dakota sand- 
stone, which furnishes artesian water farther east in North and South 
Dakota, but as it did not reach that rock the exact depth of the Dakota 
is not known. 

In 1876, when the railway extended westward only as far as Bis- 
marck, this town was a mere frontier settlement with a wide stretch 
of Indian country to the west. On the west side of the river was 
Fort Abraham Lincoln, one of the important military posts of the 
time. Although the days of Indian warfare in this vicinity had 
passed, it was the starting point for many military expeditions into 
the Indian country. An expedition of this kind which left the fort in 
1876 was the most eventful in the history of the border warfare of the 
region, as it resulted in the Battle of the Little Bighorn and the 
slaughter of Gen. Custer and his immediate command. The Northern 
Pacific Railway has been built along or closely parallel with the route 
followed by the troops. (Seep. 71.) At Mandan the railway changes 
from Central to Mountain time, and the westbound travelershould set 
his watch back one hour. | 

West of Mandan the railway follows the valley of Heart River, and 
for the first time in North Dakota the westbound traveler can see the 
hard rocks well exposed. These consist of shale and sandstone (Lance 


Mandan. 


Elevation 1,667 feet. 
Population 3,873. 
St. Paul 451 miles. 





the slow and unsatisfactory method of 
boat transportation was abandoned, so 


New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Dela- 
ware, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, 


that to-day vessels are seldom seen upon 
the muddy waters of the river. 

The Missouri is one of the great drain- 
age channels of the United States. Its 
total length is about 2,400 miles, and 
that part above the crossing of the North- 
ern Pacific has a length of about 1,160 
miles. The total area drained by this 
river is 527,155 square miles, a territory 
as great as that embraced in the States of 


Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, 
South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and 
Mississippi. 

Although Missouri River may never 
again be utilized as a means of communi- 
cation and transportation, it is destined 
to play a most important part in the better 
development of its drainage basin by 
furnishing water for irrigation and for the 
development of power. 





See SS ee 


ie ee i 





U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 611 PLATE IV 





A. BADLANDS IN THE VICINITY OF MANDAN, N. DAK. 


These are not so rugged or picturesque as those to be seen farther west, where the precipitation is less. 





B. CRACKS PRODUCED BY THE BURNING OF A BED OF LIGNITE.: 


Where a bed of lignite many feet thick burns, the sandstone or shale overlying it breaks down, forming large 
cracks through which steam and smoke issue as long as the lignite is on fire. 


BULLETIN 611 PLATE V 


U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 





Be 


EROSION FORMS OF NORTH DAKOTA. 


As soon as the turf is rernoved from the sides of the ridges and hills the slopes are cut rapidly by the rain. Each 
little trickle of water cuts a hole vertically through the sand or clay, producing asurface which, when seen from 
above, resembles a gigantic sponge. Its general appearance is shown in the upper view. When erosion has 
reached a more advanced stage, the hill may be reduced to an isolated butte, as shown in the lower view, 
and the sides are covered with the most delicate tracery. 











i 


; 
i 


" 


| Judson. 


| St. Paul 473 miles, 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE, 


D3 


formation), partly of marine origin, and represent the bottom of the 
sea that through later Cretaceous and part of Tertiary time covered 


the region.! 


The railway follows Heart River for some distance and then turns 


Elevation 1,971 feet. 


to the right and climbs to the upland along Sweetbriar Creek. Here 
large bowlders of granite and other similar rocks may 
be seen on both sides of the track. These are par- 
ticularly numerous and very large, some as much as 
8 feet in diameter, in the vicinity of Judson, but scat- 


tered bowlders can be seen from the car window beyond New Salem. 
Rocks of this kind are not known to crop out in the State, so it is sup- 
posed that the bowlders must have been brought here by ice, but as 





1The rocks exposed along Missouri 
River from the vicinity of old Fort Pierre 
in South Dakota to and beyond the cross- 
ing of the Northern Pacific Railway at 


_ Bismarck dip slightly to the north or 
northwest and are encountered in go- 


ing up the stream in ascending order. 
First is the Pierre shale, which consists of 
a great mass of fine dark shale that carries 


_ marine shells wherever it has been found 
from the Canadian line to New Mexico. 


It was doubtless laid down when the en- 
tire Rocky Mountain and Great Plains 
regions were sunk below the level of the 
ocean. 

This formation is overlain by a coarse, 
generally clean white or brownish sand- 
stone, called Fox Hills, which was evi- 
dently at one time the sandy shore that 
followed the retreat of the Pierre sea. 


Sandstone as a rule is not good material 


for the preservation of fossils, but here and 
there the Fox Hills sandstone contains 
marine shells and almost everywhere the 
casts of sea weeds, which now resemble 
fossil corncobs. Until very recently this 
has been regarded as the last formation in 
this region that was laid down in sea water. 

The Fox Hills sandstone is followed by 
the Lance formation, which consists of 
sandstone, shale, and coal beds. Few 
shells occur in the Lance, but those that 
have been found in the larger part of the 
area are fresh-water forms. The presence 
of many coal beds (composed of’ vegeta- 
tion that once grew on the land and was 
buried in swamps) and of fossil leaves and 
trunks of trees in the sandstone and shale 
shows clearly that the Lance formation 


accumulated above sea level as material 
either brought down by streams and 
spread out over the even surface of the 
land or deposited in lakes. This for- 
mation covers much of the mountain 
and plains country north of Colorado, 
and in most of this broad area it con- 
tains nothing but fresh-water material. 
Recently, however, marine and_ brack- 
ish-water shells have been found in the 
upper part of the Lance in south-cen- 
tral North Dakota and also along Little 
Missouri River in the southwest corner of 
the State, which indicate that after the 
recession of the sea to the east at the close 
of Fox Hills time it reappeared and 
reached as far west as the Montana line. 
Then at the close of Lance time the sea 
again disappeared from this region, never 
to return, as all succeeding formations are 
of fresh-water origin. 

For many years the age of the Lance 
formation has been in dispute. The fossil 
shells and the great dinosaurs (see p. 73) 
indicate that the formation is Cretaceous 
in age, but the fossil plants are Tertiary 
in their relations, almost identical with 
those of the overlying Fort Union forma- 
tion. Although the question is not 
finally settled, it seems probable that the 
Cannonball member of the Lance forma- 
tion is Tertiary and that the Cretaceous 
fauna which occurs in it is merely a sur- 
viving remnant of an old Cretaceous fauna 
which formerly lived in the open sea but 
which as this sea became more and more 
restricted and eventually inclosed by 
land preserved its old form even into Ter- 
tiary time. | 


D4: 


GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


little or no other drift accompanies them, they are supposed to repre- 
sent an earlier ice invasion than that which brought the drift east of - 
Missouri River—an invasion so long ago that most of the clay in the 
drift has been washed away, leaving only the coarser material. 
About half a mile east of the station at New Salem (see sheet 8, 
p- 60) the lignite mine of the Dakota Products Co. has been in opera- 


tion for a number of years. 
is 5 feet thick and lies about 30 feet below the surface.” 
West of New Salem, which is situated on the surface 
of the upland plain, the railway goes down a small 


New Salem. 


Elevation 2,188 feet. 
Population 621. 
St. Paul 479 miles. 


The bed of lignite mined 


ravine in which scattered granite bowlders can be seen 
from the car window for a distance of 5 miles, or as far as milepost 


30. 


Beyond this point no bowlders can be seen, but careful exami- 


nation of the surrounding upland has shown that they are present 


as far to the southwest as Almont. 





1 West of the Altamont moraine, which 
marks the greatest extension of the glacial 
lobe that occupied the Red River valley 
in Wisconsin time, there is only a thin 
veneer of drift on the upland and in some 
of the valleys. This outer drift is not bor- 
dered by any well-marked moraine, but 
here and there indications of such a fea- 
ture occur along its outer margin on the 
west side of Missouri River. In the vi- 
cinity of the Northern Pacific Railway 
the moraine is characterized by a low 
bowldery ridge which trends nearly south 
from Judson. Outside of ‘this moraine 
there is a marginal fringe of bowlders 
which extend as far west as Almont. 

The general thinness of the drift west of 
the Altamont moraine indicates that the 
material which was brought by the ice has 
almost all been washed away, except the 
large bowlders; and this means that a 
much longer time has elapsed since it was 
deposited than there has since the material 
east of the Altamont moraine was laid 
down. Some geologists have argued that 
this outer drift represents a stage of glacia- 
tion very much older than the Wisconsin 
and have assigned it provisionally to the 
Kansan (one of the earliest stages known). 
Others have maintained that the granite 
bowlders which can be seen from the 
Northern Pacific Railway are too fresh 
and unweathered to have been dropped 
here during the Kansan stage, many 
thousand years ago; but the unweathered 
condition of the granite is due to the 


dryness of the climate and therefore is 
not a reliable criterion as to the age of 
the drift. 

From all the facts at hand it is evident 
that the glacier which crossed Missouri 
River was older and thinner than the one 
which occupied the Red River valley, but 
the difference in age is problematic. 

2 The lignite bed is reached by a slope, 


and from the bottom of the slope the 


workings extend north about 2,100 feet. 
The lignite bed is almost horizontal. It 
ranges in thickness from 44 to 6 feet and 
is underlain by a bed of gray clay. Most 
of the lignite produced at this mine is 
either hauled by wagon to the surrounding 
country and used by the farmers or 
shipped by rail to the neighboring towns. 
North Dakota lignite represents one of 
the early stages in the transformation of 
vegetable matter into coal. The products 
of the various stages now recognized are 


(1) wood, (2) peat, (3) lignite, (4) sub- 


bituminous coal, (5) bituminous coal, (6) 
semibituminous coal, (7) semianthracite, 
and (8) anthracite. Much of the lignite is 
woody, and frequently logs and stumps 
are found in the mines. 
brown, and the woody parts will bend 
without breaking. The lgnite of this 
State, as it comes from the mine, carries 
about 40 per cent of water. It will 


It is generally 


readily dry down to 8 or 10 per cent if 
stored in a dry place with good ventila-— 


tion, but in so doing it shrinks and falls to 
pieces. This falling to pieces is generally 


A 


‘ee 
, 
A 


: SHEET No. 7 


100*%30' NORTH DAKOTA 





ATION 
te materials 


| 


| 
ial drift _ Quaternary 


ne there are scattered remnants of 
jin) ice sheet covered this area 


ng rocks 

/ Thickness 

in feet « 

on formation) 200 Tertiary 
Fee formation) ov Tertiary (2) 





47 


| 
| 






H 
«aft 


E Bike 

ial s 

mg 
Sheet No.6 





5 YD | \ Aj "7 
> Gs = LINE ~ ~ \ Po 
So wgea re 


xX 
| aa > oJ 
ice. 5 wer per DL. SDG*2000 [tion f 
X 


) Oo 
to 1 inch 
1§ 20Miles 
20 25 30Kilometers 
0 feet 


EAN SEA LEVEL 


re shown every 10 miles 
spaced | mile apart 


8 


10 0°30’ 


ENGRAVED ANDO PRINTED SY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 








GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 


OF THE 


NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 


From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 


Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
information collected with the assistance of this company 


UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 


David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 
1915 


Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 
, lower Jeft corner is mapped in detail on the U.S. G. S. Topographic 
Sheet of that name. ' 





BULLETIN 611 tase | eg 7 : SHEET No. 7 







100%30' NORTH DAKOTA 
EXPLANATION 
Loose surface materials 
A Stream deposits (alluvium) 
B Sand dunes 
C Glacial drift (Wisconsin stage) ; ; Quaternary 
D Outwash from the Altamont moraine and older glacial drift 
Throughout the region west of the Altamont moraine there are scattered remnants of 
glacial drift, indicating that an earlier (pre-Wisconsin) ice sheet covered this area 
Underlying rock 
i te : Thickness 
E Sandstone and shale with beds of lignite (Fort Union formation) 200 Tertiary 
F Sandstone and shale (Cannonball marine member of Lance formation) 300 Tertiary (7) 
G Sandstone and shale (lower part of Lance formation) 450 




































— 47 
ae % “< 
ok : > E XS 0° 
tu ENS. 
S SUN 
2 ad og 
* © ( 4 SW f és 
fl S VQ Cre © 
: = \ SiO 0 SS g 
13 we ; 
< \s \ vo 
1 Se ir ven a 
\ 
\ ies 
ee 6 A ie 5 
Me Sac oy eT AN AROK 6“ wee 420 Sterling ieee 
= » Rte, E28 : pe AOS 4 ea oe | eels tee aie 
a\ } fyem he Oraine © 
/ ) . 
tae esi _ drift 
ikem 3 
Ses 
SA D 
a Sd 
eZ, (ees i a of 
: N { : <3 6 
SS — ~ ~ yl 
Ore. “ty % Vv, 
= SA = : ~ od 
XS - On B L 
>) 
ae 
u % 
4 es oO 
Scale 500,006 
Approximately 8 miles to 1 inch 
} 5 10 i] 20Miles 
io 5 10 1S 20 fds 30Kilometers 
\) Contour interval 200 feet 
(© ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
19 ‘ih The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles 
The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
ss 2 i SE EES 46° 
30 








ENGRAVED ANDO PRINTED SY THE U.S,GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE, 


55 


Some 10 years ago several lignite mines were in operation at Sims, 


‘but now all but one of these are closed and abandoned. 


The bed of 


henite mined here is 7 or 8 feet thick, and in drilling 


Elevation 1,982 feet. 
Population 86. 
St. Paul 487 miles. 


a Kies well for water four other Beds having thick: 
nesses of about 5 feet each were found. Alsi drain 
to the log of this well there is 29 feet of lignite 


! below the surface at Sims in beds thick aeaEN to 
work, and the lowest is at a depth of 710 fect. 

Below Sims the railway follows the small valley of Hailstorm Creek 

and affords no general view of the country. Just east of Almont the 


| Almont. 


Elevation 1,933 feet. 
| St. Paul 492 miles. 


valley of Hailstorm Creek joins that of Muddy Creek, 
which the railway, making a sharp turn to the right 
ascends practically to its head. 


? 
This valley shows 


| excellent examples of stream meanders, the creek 
‘making great loops whose ends in places nearly connect. 





‘called slacking (from its likeness to the 
slacking of lime, though lime slacks by 
Baking up moisture and lignite by parting 
/with it), and the process takes place 
‘rapidly where it is exposed to alternate 
moisture and dryness. 

Manifestly a fuel containing 40 per cent 
of water can not be shipped any great dis- 
tance, as the purchaser can not afford to 
ey transportation charges on 80 much 
‘water. The lignite is also difficult to 
1 andle on account of the slacking or 
‘breaking up, and when stored it is likely 
to ignite spontaneously by its rapid com- 
‘bination with the oxygen of the atmos- 
phere or of water. Altogether it is far 
rom an ideal fuel, though very useful for 
‘domestic purposes in this treeless country. 
Although lignite is a poor fuel for raising 
steam, it is well adapted to making pro- 
icer gas that can be used economically 
in a gas engine for the production of 
power, and probably in the future it will 
: be utilized largely inthisway. The chief 
ifficulty at present is that there is only a 
‘small demand in this thinly settled 
country for power, and hence there would 
























: ong-distance transmission lines the lig- 
nite could be utilized for the production of 
electric power at the mine and the current 





at Dickinson and other towns in the State 
for that purpose. 

Lignite occurs most abundantly in the 
Fort Union formation (the lowest forma- 
tion in the Eocene series of the Tertiary 
system), which underlies almost all the 
western part of North Dakota. It is esti- 
mated that the State contains the enor- 
mous amount of 697,000,000,000 short 
tons of lignite in beds over 3 feet thick 
and within 1,000 feet of the surface, and 
it seems probable that there is workable 
lignite within this limit under every 
section of the land in the western part of 
the State. It is difficult to form an idea 
of a mass containing even 1,000,000 tons, 
and hence the figures given above are 
practically impossible of comprehension, 
but if the amount is put in the formofa 
cube a better conception of its magnitude 
may be obtained. The lignite of the 
State, if gathered into one mass in 
the compact form in which it lies in the 
eround, would make a cube 5 miles long, 
5 miles broad, and 5 miles high. Sucha 
cube would cover nearly a township of 
land and would be almost as high as the 
highest mountain on the globe. 

The lignite, although of poor quality 
and at present used only in a smal way, 
constitutes a vast fuel resource which will 
in time become of great value, not only 
to the individual citizens of the State 
but to the corporations that are seeking 
power for use in manufacturing or in 
transportation. 


56 


GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


About 11 miles from Almont, at milepost 51, there are on the right 
(north) about a mile distant many knobs and spurs having a bright- 
red color. When examined closely the color is seen to run in more or 
less regular horizontal bands, like the rock, but it is not continuous, 
and in places it affects the whole hillside. This color is due to the 
burning of beds of lignite, which has baked and reddened the origi- 
nally dark strata on either side, as clays originally brown or gray in 
color turn red when burned into brick.! 

The success of dry farming has led to the settlement of almost all 
of western North Dakota, and towns have sprung up along the rail- 

roads like magic. Glenullen is one of the newer 


Glenullen. towns, and from its general appearance it is evident 
Elevation 2,090 feet. that in this region dry farming is a success. Although 
Population 921. 


grassy slopes or fields of grain predominate in this 
part of the State, the appearance at intervals of bare 
knobs or buttes indicates that everywhere under the surface are the 
same lignite-bearing rocks that were seen farther east, those of the 
Fort Union formation. These rocks, when searched carefully, are 
found to contain many impressions of fossil leaves which show that 
the sands and muds, now hardened to rock, were laid down in shallow 
water near a land surfacesupon which trees and smaller plants grew in 
abundance. Where the land was swampy the vegetation was cov- 
ered as it fell and in time was changed into lignite. In this part of 


St. Paul 509 miles. 


the country the lignite is generally concealed by the grassy slopes, 


1 All through the lignite region and the 
fields of low-grade coal of the Rocky 
Mountains and Great Plains the coal 
beds have burned extensively along their 
outcrops, the resulting red color giving a 
touch of brightness to some otherwise dull 
and monotonous landscapes. In some 
places the burning has been just sufficient 
to color the shale and sandstone to a bright 
red, but in others, where the lignite bed 
is thicker or where more than one bed has 
burned, the heat has been so intense that 
the rocks have been melted into a sort of 
slag or scoria, good examples of which will 
be seen farther west. When a thick bed 
of coal or lignite burns, the overlying 
material settles, and frequently great 
cracks are formed, out of which issue 
smoke and steam from the burning lignite 
below. An example of such cracking is 
shown in Plate IV, B (p. 52). 

As the lignite retains much of its orig- 
inal woody character it ignites readily 


when dry, and the fires may have begun 
in any one of several ways. For instance, 
they may have been started by prairie 
fires, by lightning, by camp fires, or even 
by alternate wetting and drying, which 
causes very rapid oxidation and a conse- 
quent rise in temperature. The last sug- 
gestion may appear improbable, but the 
writer has seen a large pile of low-grade 
coal take fire after a rain and be entirely 
consumed. The burning of a dump of 
waste material is a common experience 
at many mines, and rarely is the fire 
started by man. Once started, the burn- 
ing of a coal bed will continue as long as 
air is available. Near the outcrop the 
coal burns readily, but back under cover 
the amount of air is not sufficient for com- 
bustion and the fire dies out. Many coal 
and lignite beds are burning to-day, and 
it is possible that one may be seen in the 
badlands called Pyramid Park, farther 
west, near Sully Springs, N. Dak. 


57 


but farther west many beds are exposed in the hillsides. The fossil 
plants of the Fort Union formation indicate very different conditions 
during the Eocene epoch from those which prevail to-day. <A brief 
sketch of the flora, together with an interpretation of its meaning, is 
given below by F. H. Knowlton.' 

The railway gradually ascends the valley of Muddy Creek, and if 
the traveler is not looking carefully he will cross the divide and 
enter the valley of Knife River without being aware that he has 
passed out of the valley in which he has been traveling from Almont. 
As a matter of fact the two valleys are continuous, and it seems 
probable that originally the drainage from the vicinity of the summit 
at Antelope came into Muddy Creck, but that some change has 
occurred by which the drainage about Hebron has been turned north- 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 


ward into Knife River. 


1 As the traveler rides mile after mile 
over the almost barren plains of Dakota 
and eastern Montana and sees them shim- 
mering in the heat of midsummer, with 
only an occasional cottonwood or box 
elder along the streams or sprawling, 
stunted junipers on the rocky slopes to 
relieve the monotony, he finds it difficult 
indeed to realize that this country once 
supported a vegetation as luxuriant and 
varied as that now growing in any of the 
Southern States. However, it will re- 
quire only a brief examination of the 
rocks to convince him of the truth of this 
statement, as they contain in many places 
the remains of vast numbers of branches, 
leaves, fruits, and even a flower here and 
there. Fossil remains have aptly been 
called the illustrations in the world’s his- 
tory, of which the pages are the layers of 
rock forming the outer part of the crust of 
the earth. It is the purpose now to look 
at a few of these illustrations and by this 
means restore in imagination the ancient 
vegetation. 

Fossil plants are very abundant in the 
Fort Union formation and are found in the 
sandstone, in the harder concretions or 
Jenses, and in the clay between the sand- 
stone beds. Most of them, especially 
those in clay, are preserved with remark- 
able fidelity. About 300 species have 
been described, and it is probable that 
the total number may be found to reach 
500 or more species. 


The details of this change have not been 


Beginning with the plants of the most 
simple structure, we may first consider 
the ferns. One of the most abundant and 
widespread forms, having been found at 
hundreds of localities, is the beautiful 
sensitive fern Onoclea. This can not be 
distinguished from the living species, 
which now grows so widely over eastern 
North America. There is also a chain 
fern (Woodwardia) very closely resem- 
bling a living species, and numbers of 
others that are more or less closely related 
to forms now growing in the Eastern 
States. 

The conifers, though not numerous in 
species, were very abundant and were of 
the types that must have been of rather 
imposing appearance. The most abun- 
dant form is a redwood (Sequoia) that is 
very closely related to the redwood which 
is now confined to the coast regions of 
California. There was also another 
Sequoia nearly related to the big trees of 
California, but it was not so abundant as 
the other form. With these was a cypress 
(Taxodium) that must have been much 
more beautiful than the common cypress 
of our southern swamps. There was also 
acedar(Thuya),with delicate juniper-like 
foliage, that must have been very numer- 
ous, as its fossil remains are widespread in 
the Fort Union formation. In strange 
contrast to these conifers is what appears 
to have been the immediate ancestor of 
the celebrated ginkgo, or maiden-hair tree 


58 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


worked out, but it was doubtless caused by glaciers which crossed 
Missouri River and extended to the southwest as far as this valley, 
damming the streams and compelling them to find new outlets. 
Hebron, one of the new towns of western North Dakota, is the 
center of a prosperous agricultural district and is noted for the 
manufacture of fire and pressed brick, the clay for 
which is derived from the Fort Union formation. 
The bed of clay utilized is at least 50 feet thick. 
Beyond Hebron the railway follows the broad, open 
valley of Knife River to its head, where there is a 
steep climb to the summit of the dividing ridge between that stream 
and Heart River on the southwest. The highest 
point is reached a short distance beyond Antelope, 
where a good view can be obtained of the upland 
surface of this part of North Dakota. The surface 
is gently undulating, but here and there on the principal divides 
there is a high knob that has not been reduced by erosion to the 
general level. The sides of these knobs are generally bare, and they 
have been sculptured by the rain, the frost, and the wind into most 


Hebron. 


Elevation 2,180 feet. 
Population 597. 
St. Paul 522 miles. 


Antelope. 


Elevation 2,435 feet. 
St. Paul 531 miles. 


beautiful and intricate forms. 


(See Pl. V, p. 53.) 








of Chinaand Japan. The ginkgo has had 
in many ways a more wonderful geologic 
history than any other tree now living, as 
it has come down to us practically un- 
































FIGURE 6.—Ginkgo leaf. 


changed from earliest Mesozoic time. It 
apparently saw its heyday during what is 
known as the Jurassic period (see table on 
p. 2), when it was widely spread from the 


Arctic regions over most of the globe, but 
since that time it has been gradually 
dwindling until it is now represented bya 
single living species in Japan and China, 
It is regarded as a sacred tree in the Far 
East and as such is planted about the tem- 
ples and sanctuaries, but there is great 
doubt as to its existence in a truly wild 
state. It is not likely to become extinct, 
however, for its fascinating history and 
curious fernlike foliage (see fig. 6) have 
made it of so great interest that it has been 
extensively planted in many parts of the 
world, notably southern Europe and east- 
ern United States. It is a familiar shade 
tree on the streets of Washington, D.C. 
Among the so-called higher flowering 
plants there were many grass and sedge- 
like plants during Fort Union time, but 
none that were very conspicuous or other- 
wise remarkable. Other monocotyledon- 
ous plants included a fan palm with leaves 
that must have been 5 or 6 feet across, 
which once grew along the lower reaches 
of Yellowstone River in Montana, as 
shown on Plate XI, B (p. 75). ; 
The plants with deciduous leaves (dico- 
tyledons) flourished in great numbers in 
Fort Union time, as they do now. They 


é 


Richardton. 


Elevation 2,487 feet. 
Population 647. 
St. Paul 536 miles. 


of a large town. 





Gladstone. 


Elevation 2,373 feet. 
St. Paul 550 miles. 


Lehigh. 


Elevation 2,372 feet. 
3t. Paul 556 miles. 





included trees of many kinds, shrubs, 
vines, and probably herbs of more humble 
mowth. Among the trees one of the most 
tbundant types as regards kinds as well 
is individuals was the poplar (Populus). 
These were of an ancient type, with small 
‘ounded or heart-shaped leaves, and were 
nost closely related to the living quaking 
ispen. Of the willow several species are 
mown. Oaks of several kinds were pres- 
mt, as well as two species of hazelnut, 
»oth of which are still living in the eastern 
United States and Canada. Walnut, 
lied to our common black walnut, was 
wresent, together with sycamores so like 
he living species as to be separated with 
lifficulty. Figs were present, though not 
jonumerous in North Dakota as they were 
a other areas where the same formation 
orevails, notably in Colorado. There 
vere tino elms, maples, birches, alders, 
logwoods, hickories, box elders, buck- 
horns, viburnums, wax berries, witch- 
iazels, horse-chestnuts, bittersweets, and 
many that are without common names. 

_ From this abundant flora it is evident 
hat what is now an almost treeless plain 
was then covered with splendid forests of 















THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 


o9 


_ West of the summit the surface descends to Richardton, the largest 
town between Mandan and Dickinson. 
a result of the success of dry farming. 
tively situated on the rolling upland plateau of 
western North Dakota and has abundant supplies 
of clay and lignite ready to be utilized in the building 


This town has grown up as 
It is attrac- 


| From Richardton the railway winds through a gently rolling 
country and gradually descends to Heart Rivers which is reached 
at the village of Gladstone. 
the same ete that it left a few miles west of Man- 
dan, but the climb out of the valley and the descent 
| bent in again saved the railway several miles of 
track, although it involves some rather heavy grades. 

The valley ‘of Heart River is comparatively narrow and is bounded 
by steep bluffs in which the rocks of the Fort Union formation are 
well exposed. At the little village of Lehigh (see 
sheet 9, p. 64) a lignite mine has been in operation 
for a number of years. The bed of lignite, which is 
from 6 to 7 feet thick, les horizontal and is reached 


Hers the railway is in 


hardwoods, interspersed with scattered 
conifers and ginkgos. From the presence 
of numerous and in many places thick 
beds of lignite it is clear that there were 


great swamps, and that these must have 


continued with but little change for long 
periods of time. It has been estimated 
that the product of heavily timbered 
woodland, when compressed to the spe- 
cific gravity of coal, would only amount to 
about one-fourth of an inch in thickness 
during a century. If this statement is 
even approximately correct, it is easy to 
calculate that a 4-foot bed of coal must 
have required about 20,000 years for its 
accumulation. 

Except for the presence of palms and an 
occasional fig, it might be presumed that 
the climate was not greatly different from 
that now prevailing on the Atlantic slope 
of North America—that is, cool temper- 
ate. The palms which are found in the 
lower part of the formation imply, so far 
as the present distribution of palms indi- 
cates, a somewhat warmer climate, just 
as the numerous thick beds of lignite 
throughout the formation imply long- 
continued marsh conditions. 


60 


GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


by an entry driven into the hillside. The workings extend 2,000 
feet or more into the hill, and the lignite is brought to the tipple in 
cars hauled by horses.t 

A few miles west of Lehigh is Dickinson, a district terminal and a 
thriving town in the midst of an extensive district of dry farms, 
This place was named for W. S. Dickinson, of Malone, 
N. Y., a former State senator and an enthusiastic 
advocate of the value of the country west of Missouri 
River. The clay beds worked near Hebron are well 
developed along the valley of Heart River in the 
vicinity of Dickinson and are extensively worked a mile south of the 
town. The clay from this pit is manufactured into dry-press brick 
and fire brick near the railway just east of the town. 

The valley of Heart River is broad and shallow, and few exposures 
of rocks are to be seen in it, but here and there the bare side of a butte 
or a freshly cut ravine shows the yellowish sandstone or a bed of 
lignite of the Fort Union formation. 

The climate of the region about South Heart is marked by great 
extremes in temperature, the mercury ranging from 30° or 40° below 
zero in the winter to 100° or more in the summer, but 
these extremes are not so trying as they would be in 
a more humid climate. The total precipitation for 
the year in the part of this region west of Missouri 
River is about 14 inches, but nearly half of this falls in the winter, 
leaving only 8 or 10 inches for the growing season. Formerly this 
amount of rain was considered entirely inadequate for agriculture, 
but in the last five or six years it has been demonstrated that good 
crops of grain can be obtained here about three years out of four, 
if the ground is properly treated. This discovery has changed the 
activities of the country from stock raismg on the open range to the 
cultivation of grain and the consequent fencing of the country into 
160-acre or 320-acre tracts. 


Dickinson. 


Elevation 2,430 feet. 
Population 3,678. 
St. Paul 561 miles. 


South Heart. 


Elevation 2,499 feet. 
St. Paul 571 miles. 


heat required to raise 1 pound of water 
1° F., or it may be considered as the ratio 


1 The lignite as it comes from the mine 
contains about 42 per cent of moisture, 


but on drying parts with most of it, the 
percentage being reduced to about 10. 
The composition of an average sample of 
this lignite after it had been dried at a 
temperature of 86° to 95° F. until the 
sample attained a constant weight is as 
follows: Moisture, 9.1 per cent; volatile 
matter, 38.2 per cent; fixed carbon, 42.1 
per cent; ash, 10.6 per cent. Its heating 
value is 9,640 British thermal units. <A 
British thermal unit is the amount of 


of weight of coal burned to the weight of 
water that will be raised 1° by the burning 
of the coal. Thus the burning of 1 pound 
of air-dried Lehigh lignite would raise the | 
temperature of 9,640 pounds of water 1°. 

Coals range in their heating value from. 
the amount given in this analysis, which | 
is about the lowest, to as much as 15,500. 
British thermal units, a value shown by | 
the best Pocahontas and New River coals | 
of West Virginia. 





SHEET No. 8 


NORTH DAKOTA 


EXPLANATION 


Loose surface materials 


A Stream deposits (alluvium) 
North of the railway there are scattered rem- 
nants of drift, indicating that a pre-Wisconsin Quaternary 
ice sheet extended toward the southwest at least 
as far as Almont, Glenullen and Hebron 


Underlying rocks 


Thickness 
in feet 
B Sandsione and shale, with beds of 
lignite (Fort Union formation) 500 Tertiary 
C Sandstone and shale (Cannonball 
marine member of Lance formstion) 300 Tertiary (7?) 


i 
4 
\ 


l 

‘, 
S 

Ss. 


Sheet Vo.7 


aie meas 


Jeag “eths 














GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 


OF THE 


NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 


From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 


Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
information collected with the assistance of this company 


UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


. GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 
David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 


1915 


Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 
lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 
Sheet of that name 


BULLETIN 611 


O02 %30' ee Se 

















Sheet V0.9 








Pa ey Se 
102°30 





SHEET No. 8 





NORTH DAKOTA 








EXPLANATION 





Loose surface materials 


A Stream deposits (alluvium) 
North of the railway there are scattered rem- 
nants of drift, indicating that a pre-Wisconsin Quaternary 
ice sheet extended toward the southwest at least : 
as far as Almont, Glenullen and Hebron J 






Underlying rocks 







Thickness 
= in feet 
>. B Sandstone and shale, with beds of : 
lignite (Fort Union formation) 500 Tertiary 
C Sandstone and shale (Cannonball : 3 
marine member of Lance formstion) 300 Tertiary (7) 



















} a 
( : yaw 
7 & S U N 
ee ) / rai S 
ae ne aoe §} ( \ a he a tof } \ N Fort “Union Ss: ormation B 3 
=~ s=“Oladsto : ys ({ ees AL t s ; ) : 
23 rea os as \ r eee AN | t Ni ese ade. e 
\ my : \ \ fe: : : 
oe Sane >) \ ny 3 } iy B 480 
f Soa rt f \ : 
ay a of Se = { \ lg Blue Grass 
va i a ( - i Ren 5 5 
) \ Be): LES SS Fi aS j 
en, F / = - \ AG ey WY OSA L978 REL. 
parie= hee — \ - Fort Unidn formation ‘B o <A io FAX 
bn ac } —— J : : ; 4“; 3 
4 ss * Pe / ee 
\ \ \ 
——— me ty / oY, > a 
, Sta ee 8 ae 2 } 
wer, : “ ‘ 
= \ 
& \ 
At a \ 
ae | es 
1 e 
Scaie 500,000 Ay ‘ 
Approximately 8 miles to | inch ‘ tv frer \ 
12 5 10 1S 20Miles | “7 fa ih oe Oe ) 
» < } 
' ; > , 
1 Oo 5 10 5 20 25 30Kilometers 5 ate 
Mista nertrane eect ca laeed-orernlnentonadirctnendeeoirsttenacnaentonediscatindnantceedorrmestectaect-rrheo Seurbial CAR” 1S VOUS NVfrn mn 
Contour interval 200 feet Wf 


ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL | 


The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles 











The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 











[oy = ate 





ENGRAVED AND PRINTED By THE U.S.GEOQLOGICAL SURVEY 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 61 


The railway rises steadily up the regular slope by Belfield to the 
divide between Knife River and Little Missouri River. The valley 
. of the Little Missouri is noted for its scenery, but it is 
Belfield. ) 
of even greater interest on account of some of the 
rte tie Rie euiched people who inhabited it in the days of 
the open range, when the ‘‘cow puncher” was in his 
glory. Col. Theodore Roosevelt resided for a number of years on a 
ranch in this valley about 20 miles south of the railway, and here he 
acquired that knowledge of and sympathy for the free life of the 
plains that has so endeared him to the western people. 
Fryburg is situated on the summit between the drainage basins of 
Knife River and Little Missouri River. The descent to the Little 
Missouri is made through amaze of badland forms that 
Fryburg. stand out in striking contrast to the gentle rolling 
_ Elevation 2,790 feet. surface of the upland east of the divide. Little Mis- 
Population, 288*, 2 : ° 
"St. Paul 587 miles. | Souri River has cut its valley about 500 feet deep, and 
: all its tributaries have made similar sharp cuts in the 
‘upland, so that the main stream is bordered by a belt of rough coun- 
‘try from 10 to 15 miles in width. As the early French explorers and 
| traders had oui in crossing these belts they called them ‘‘mauvais 
terres a traverser”’ or bad lands to cross. From this has come the 
common appellation ‘‘badlands.”’ 
_ The change from the grassy upland east of Fryburg to the badlands 
‘of Pyramid Park on Sully Creek is very abrupt, and the traveler is 
likely to be bewildered by the seemingly endless 
| Sully Springs. variety of form, arrangement, and color. There is 
1 ie gaarinaal an apparent tack of plan in the arrangement of the 
: forms, as if some giant hand had fashioned these mon- 
“uments and then strewn them about without plan or purpose. Views 
‘of the badlands are shown in Plates VI-IX. The natural color is a 
somber gray, but this is enlivened by bands and splotches of red where 
‘beds of lignite have burned. In some places, as at Scoria siding, the 
ene has been so intense that all the rocks are deep red and huge 
blocks of half-fused material are abundant. From the evidence on 
“every side one might imagine that at some previous time this place 
had been an inferno rivaling that of Dante’s most vivid imagination, 
but it is probable that the burning took place so slowly that the gen- 
| eral temperature was no greater than it is to- Hay It is reported that 














62 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


In the badlands many beds of lignite can be seen outcropping as 
black bands along the faces of the buttes and ‘‘temples,’’ and petrified 
stumps and logs are especially abundant about Sully Springs and neai 
the lower end of the valley. (See Pl. VI, A.) The reason why some 
of the stumps and logs are petrified is that when the trees fell they 
were covered by mud before they could decay and for ages were soakec 
with water charged with silica. This silica replaced the vegetable 
tissues, preserving even the most minute structures of the plants, sc 
that it is possible to tell to what kind of tree the wood belonged. Th 
petrified logs give a good idea of the size of the trees composing the 
forests of that day. 

The village of Medora is situated on Little Missouri River at th 
point where it is crossed by the Northern Pacific Railway. The rive 

flows here in a deep, rugged canyon, which seems t¢ 
Medora. be about the last place in which to establish a settle 
eee ment. The village was founded in the early eighties 

‘by the Marquis De Mores, who named it after his wife 
On an eminence on the west bank of the river he built a ‘‘chateau,’ 
which can be seen on the left (south) from the passing train. Thi 
marquis evidently expected that Medora would become a busy center 
for he built a large packing house, the remains of which can be seen ot 
the right. He left the country and met a tragic death a few years agi 
in the Far East. 

There are two prominent beds of lignite in the bluff at Medora, on 
40 feet above river level and the other 30 feet higher. The upper bec 
is 4 feet 6 inches thick and the lower one 9 feet 4 inches, with 3 inche 
of clay near the bottom. 

After crossing the river the road follows Andrews Creek and climb: 
to the upland in about 16 miles. For most of this distance the rock 
of the Fort Union formation are well exposed, and near the river ther 
are exposed the same thick beds of lignite that were seen at Medora 
(See Pl. VII, B.) | 





1 The log of a deep well at Medora, sunk | always careful to distinguish dark shal 
by the railway company for water, records | from lignite. As reported in this log 
the occurrence of a lignite bed 23 feet | there is altogether 29 feet of lignite in bed 
thick at a depth of 120 feet. Although | 3 feet or more thick. aS 
beds of lignite from 8 to 9 feet thick are The lignite here has been mined onl) 
known farther up the river at nearly the | for local use, but when improved method 
same depth and may extend under the | for the utilization of this kind of fuel hay. 
town, too much confidence should not be | been devised, the canyon of Little Mis: 
placed on the thickness given in the log | souri River will offer exceptional oppor 
of the Medora well, as drillers are not | tunities for cheap mining on a large scale. 


a 
Be 
ae | 


+ 


wa ” 





U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


BULLETIN 611 PLATE Vi 





| A, SILICIFIED STUMP IN PYRAMID PARK, N. DAK. 


| A remnant of one of the big trees of the Fort Union forest, now a mass of stone resting on a pedestal cf soft 
: clay. Photograph by Haynes, St. Paul, Minn. 





TT — De IT 





) B. THE ‘*PROW OF THE BATTLESHIP,” ONE OF THE BUTTES OF PYRAMID PARK, N. DAK. 


| Note the concretions which weather out of the sandstone and cover the ground long after the main mass has 
been removed, Photograph by Haynes, St. Paul, Minn. 








U. 


S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 611 PLATE VII 





A. VIEW OF THE BADLANDS OF NORTH DAKOTA. 


Away from the main stream the small side branches and headwater streams are just beginning to cut into the 
level upland. The wealth of detail in such natural sculpture is beyond description. 





B. A BED OF LIGNITE 15 FEET THICK IN THE CANYON OF LITTLE MISSOURI RIVER, N. DAK. 


Some of the beds are as much as 35 feet thick. 


U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 611 PLATE VIII 





Be 


VIEWS OF THE BADLANDS OF NORTH DAKOTA. 


As shown in the upper view, fantastic shapes abound in every valley and ravine. In places flying buttresses 
support the slender columns and gargoyles may be seen projecting from beneath the roof. Even with the 
scanty rainfall of this region, every stream has carved for itself a channel—great ones for the large streams and 
small, almost infinitesimal ones for the tiny rivulets that trickle down the slope—as shown in the lower view. 


U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 611 PLATE IX 





VIEWS OF THE BADLANDS OF NORTH DAKOTA AND MONTANA. ‘ 


Towers and pinnacles abound on every side. These are the remnants of hills or buttes or of a ledge of 
sandstone that now remains only as protecting caps to the columns of softer material beneath. 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 63 


Near milepost 160 (Demores station) a flat-topped butte can be seen 
on the left (south) that stands far above most of the other surface 
features. This is known as Square Butte. An irreg- 
Sentinel Butte. = ular, two-crested butte, which is about as high as 
ee Square Butte and visible on the right (north), is called 
Camels Hump. The most prominent and best known 
of the high knobs in this vicinity is Sentinel Butte, which has an 
altitude of 3,350 feet, or 620 feet above the town of the same name, 
and is the highest point of land in North Dakota. These buttes 
‘are composed mainly of the Fort, Union formation, but they are 
“capped by a thin bed of shale that is supposed to belong to the 
White River formation, of Oligocene age. The land about the base 
‘of Sentinel Butte was a few years ago only a sagebrush plain, but is 
“now divided into farms that in appearance resemble those of the 
older farming regions farther east. 
Beach (see sheet 10, p. 68) is one of the towns that have recently 
| grown up as a result of the successful farming of this 
Beach, N. Dak. . . : 
oe West of Beach the railway crosses the State 
| Population 1,003. line into Montana, a little west of milepost 176. The 
_ St. Paul 626 miles’ = position of the State line is indicated by a sign on 
the left of the track. 


The State of Montana has an area of 146,572 square miles, or a little 
‘more than that of the States of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, 
Pennsylvania, and Ohio. It was admitted to the 

Montana. Union in 1889 and according to the census of 1910 had 
a population of 376,053. Montana has long been 

known as a metal-producing State, and many have thought of it as 
being entirely mountainous and as suited only for mining. As a 
matter of fact, the western half alone is mountainous; the eastern 
half, an area nearly as large as North Dakota, is in the Great Plains. 
Although placer gold was discovered in Montana in 1852, 1t was not 
until 10 or 12 years had elapsed that the ‘‘gold rush” began and the 
outside world was made acquainted with the wondrous wealth of its 
mountain gravel. Many persons starting for the new gold diggings 
stopped in the more promising valleys, such as the Gallatin and the 
Bitterroot, and farming began almost as soon as the panning of gold. 
‘The mining industry of the State has passed through a number of 
changes from placer mining to lode mining of gold and silver and, 
finally, of copper as the leading metal. Before the development of the 
‘great copper mines at Butte, Michigan was the leading State in the 
production of copper, but it soon gave place to Montana, which for a 
‘number of years stood at the head. Recently Arizona has forged to 
the front and Montana has dropped to second place in the rank of 
copper producers. Despite the fact that Montana ranks second in 


64 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


the amount of copper produced annually, it still is first in the total 
amount produced. The total for the three leading States up to the 
close of 1913 is as follows: Montana, 3,214,775 tons; Michigan, 
2,759,721 tons; Arizona, 2,324,719 tons. 

At first agriculture flourished only in the mountain valleys, where 
there was protection from the frost and the wind, and the plains 
portion of the State was devoted to the grazing of stock. Immense 
herds of cattle roamed the plains, and for a number of years Montana 
held first place in the number of sheep and the value of the wool 
shipped out of the State. Irrigation was finally undertaken in many 
of the valleys, and large crops of wheat, oats, alfalfa, and sugar beets 
are now being raised. The most recent change has been the influx 
of the dry-land farmer and the taking up and fencing of most of the 
land in the eastern and central parts of the State. This has mate- 
rially decreased the number of live stock, and in the sheep industry 
Montana has dropped to second place, Wyoming taking the lead. 
Dry farming has not been universally successful, but sufficient has 
been accomplished to demonstrate that it is feasible when rightly 
carried on and with sufficient capital to enable the farmer to tide 
over years of drought and crop failure. The most important crop 
in the State is forage, amounting in 1909 to over $12,000,000. 

Probably few persons realize that the value of manufactured articles 
in Montana exceeds that of the output of the mines, but such is the 
case. The smelting and refining of copper are the leading industries, 
but the value of the manufactured product is not given in the census 
reports. It is, however, roughly the same as the output of the mines, 
Aside from the manufacture of copper, the leading manufacturing 
industry is that of lumber and timber, which in 1909 amounted to 
over $6,000,000. The values of the products of the State, exclusive 
of the copper smelted and refined, are about as follows: Manufactur- 
ing (1909), $73,000,000; mining (1913), $69,000,000; agriculture, 
(1909), $63,000,000. 


The country continues to be rolling to the valley of Beaver Creek, 

a tributary of Little Missouri River, on which is situated the town of 

Wibaux (we’bo), in the midst of an excellent farming 

Wibaux, Mont. district. Four miles west of Wibaux the railway 

eee ie feet. CT OSSeS the summit between the drainage basin of 

St.Paul 636 miles, Little Missouri River on the east and that of Yellow- 

stone River on the west, and then begins a long de- 

scent down Glendive Creek to the Yellowstone. This valley was a 

famous hunting ground in early days, and the name Glendive was 

applied to it by Sir George Gore, an Irish nobleman, who hunted 
buffalo here in the winter of 1855-56. 


SHEET No. 9 
_ NORTH DAKOTA 


Thickness 
in feet 
40 Oligocene) 


of Tertiary 
850 Eocene J 


10N 


\ B®, 
\ Fa 

NVMA, Fe, AS: 
ae ANS Oey 


\ 
Pints ) 
/ ; 
~ WN ) “? 
hs UA 
. 


A 


formation 


9 
= 
Ww 
uv 
oe 
Ce 
H 


s to | inch 
15 20Miles 


20 25 30Kilometers 


00 feet 


EAN SEA LEVEL 


are shown every 10 miles 


spaced | mile apart 





BULLETIN 611 SHEET No, 9 






NORTH DAKOTA 






EXPLANATION 















ee 
GEOLOGIC: AND ee ete MAP © A Shale.(White River formation) : 40 coe , 
NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE Cee ic 
From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington : | 
: 






Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 

Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 

the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
_ information collected with the assistance of this company 


UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 





Pa 































1 a > “T GT 
GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR’ “Be, : ee” oe q \ 
, : f ; : i IsHum : t aes 
David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer Ka He i will & A ae 4 ara \ 
Font Unies Uh Sis vee ey ee: AG 
1915 Ais ey 7 Seen 
2 Reena t Fort ‘tion formation Bé§ 
4 ° oS] \ at I~. S 
Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 9 ¥/ R BS y 60 : G+, 
lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic = wi xd L 2 ‘q 2oe NS “O 
S 3! Ko" ras en9g0 9 
Sheet of that name. > =i = e ae ss OY > 
+ ~i\ 4 in “A & . S\ 
al en Ss 998, ), ig at bs SA Lehigh : 
Ny “FS Ne soy a Bre > SSOP TNT | 2 
re a any, r Ve. a 
9 Sul fSbrige \ pA D570 CMM eTand He# 2400) U} 
EL. Aes , Bee ak es pe ae = | > fs P4s53 
etal 3 i ee aS Y die 5 ¢ 8 
Wess oo Bs = ¢ é 
a SANA 2604 Ss 
“Fer = Undo forfiati BR Ee 2400 
eS inet Bee > ~- ay e=- 
% > Coe. | 
Oy f sf a ae e 
ae —— ¥y E i~ 
: | o 
Q aa \ 
i 
NEE 
| 
; | Scale 500,000 
: Approximately 8 miles to | inch 
1 5 10 15 20Miles 
10 3 10 IS 20 25 30Kilometers 
bt need etal edncahen tenet dented rennet denheentne tome od 
Contour interval 200 feet 
ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
The distances from St. Paul. Minnesota. are shown every 10 miles 
| | The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
1 | 
30 
| 
ee 


ENGRAVED AND PRINTEU BY THE U.S-GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


: THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 65 


| The rocks, which to the eye appear to be horizontal, in reality rise 

steadily toward the southwest as part of a broad and gently curved 

-arch in the strata, more fully described on page 68. The rise of 

: the rocks in this direction brings to the surface those crossed in the 

| badlands east of Medora and others that lie below the level of Little 

“Missouri River at that place, but the country is so generally grass 
covered that the traveler can not see them all. 

At Hodges there is a bed of lignite which is supposed to mark the 
base of the Fort Union formation, and may be the same as the bed 
) reported to be 23 feet thick under Medora. The rocks below this 
bed, which are scarcely distinguishable from the rocks above, belong 
| to the Lance formation, in which the valley of Glendive Creek is cut 
from Hodges to Yellowstone River. In most places the valley is 
bounded by bare walls of somber-colored rocks and subdued bad- 
lands, but they are neither so imposing nor so picturesque as those 
of Pyramid Park. The Lance formation carries some beds of lignite, 
but generally they are too thin to mine. 

Below Allard the Lance formation constitutes the valley walls as 
far as Yellowstone River. Along this part of the valley no two of the 
topographic forms are the same, but there is a simi- 
larity of type and color that soon becomes extremely 
Elevation 2,269 feet. monotonous. There are, however, some well-defined 
St. Paul 657 miles, : ‘ : 

terraces which in a measure tend to relieve the dull- 
hess of the landscape. The upper terrace probably records an epoch 
when the stream was flowing at a higher level than it is to-day, these 
terraces being remnants of the old valley floor. The lower terraces, 
which are well developed near the river, may record flood stages of 
the Yellowstone, when slack water from the river backed up into all 
the tributary valleys and caused sand and mud to be deposited. 
_ At milepost 213 the train swings out from the mouth of Glendive 
Creek into the broad valley of the Yellowstone and in a few minutes 
reaches Glendive, the end of the division, the county 
Glendive. seat of Dawson County, and one of the largest towns 
Elevation 2,091 feet. in eastern Montana. In building the main line of the 
eae Northern Pacific Railway in 1879-80 this was the 
most important town between Missouri River and 
elena, for it was the point from which construction was carried on 
in both directions. This was made possible by the transportation of 
upplies from Bismarck by way of Missouri and Yellowstone rivers. 
When through travel was established, however, Glendive lost most 
of its importance, and for a long time its growth was slow, as the 
country roundabout was but sparsely settled and its principal busi- 
ness was that of a division terminal of the railroad. Recently, with 
the impetus given to agriculture by the introduction of dry-farming 
 95558°—Bull. 611—15—-—5 


Allard. 

















¥. 


1) ae We ; 
seal nel ae Aa 


66 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


methods and with the completion of the Lower Yellowstone irriga- 
tion project by the United States Reclamation Service,* settlers have 
flocked in, and the country which 10 years ago was an open range is 
now almost all cut up into small farms. This change has removed 
from this region one of the picturesque types of western life—the 
‘‘cow-puncher” of the early days. The traveler may still see a few 
poor imitations or caricatures, but the real article—the féarless, dare- 
devil rider who was an equally fearless ‘‘ booze fighter” when he came 
to town—is no more. The big herds are gone, and with them the 
men who tended them. 

At Glendive the railway route again touches the trail of Lewis and 
Clark, for in their homeward, journey Capt. Clark with a small party 
descended Yellowstone River.2 As nearly as can be determined, they 
passed the site of Glendive on August 1, 1806. .¥§ 

South of Glendive there can be seen on the left (east) badland 
bluffs and on the right the muddy river, which, a short distance above 
the town, is crossed by the new branch railway leading to Intake and 
other towns established under the Lower Yellowstone irrigation project. 
Still farther south the railway passes through deep cuts in massive 
white sandstone and skirts a prominent pinnacle of the same rock, 


1In the Yellowstone Valley in eastern 
Montana, tributary to the Northern Pa- 
cific and Great Northern railways, the 
Government has built an irrigation sys- 
tem to cover a strip of land 70 miles long 
lying on both sides of the river and ex- 
tending over the boundary line into 
North Dakota. The irrigable area con- 
sists of about 60,000 acres of land lying in 
the midst of one of the best and largest 
grazing areas in the United States. 

The soil is a deep sandy loam and when 
properly cultivated produces abundant 
crops of hay and grain. Alfalfa, the great 
forage crop of the West, grows to perfec- 
tion here, and dairying and the winter 
feeding and fattening of stock are profit- 
able industries. 

The towns of Intake, Burns, Savage, 
Crane, and Sidney are located at short in- 
tervals through the middle of the area 
covered by the project. Nearly all the 
Government lands have been filed upon, 
but several hundred farms are for sale on 
easy terms and at reasonable prices. The 
cost of water right is $45 an acre, payable 
in annual installments to the Government. 

The general elevation is 1,900 feet above 
sea level, and the temperature ranges 


from 30° below to 100° above zero. The 
advantages of the valley in the way of fer- 
tile soil, assured water supply, favorable 
climate, low prices, and transportation 
facilities make it one of the most desirable 
locations in the Northwest. 
2The name Yellowstone was doubtless 
given to the river because of some outcrop 
of yellow rocks along its banks; but where 
do such rocks occur? The traveler im 
passing up the valley sees no distinctly 
yellow rocks between Glendive and Liy- 
ingston, and if he goes to Yellowstone 
Park he will see none as far as Gardiner, 
the northern entrance to the park. a 
in the park the conditions are different. 
The canyon of the Yellowstone below the 
falls is noted the world over for its gor- 
geous display of colors, among which the 
most brilliant and dominating tint is 
yellow. Here is the only place on the! 
river where the rocks are so distinctly 
yellow as to have suggested a name {0 
the stream, and the conclusion seems 
inevitable that here the name originated. 
As the evidence available seems tc 
indicate that the name did not originat 
with the English explorers, it must haj 
been given by some early French travele! 



















THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 


67 


known as Eagle Butte. This white sandstone with a buff layer at 
the bottom is known to geologists by the local name of Colgate sand- 
stone. The lower part contains in places casts of sea weeds and 
marine shells, so that it is believed to represent the sandy shore of an 
ancient sea. It is supposed to be in part equivalent to the Fox Hills 
sandstone of South Dakota. The rocks overlying the Colgate sand- 
stone in this region are all of fresh-water origin. At Eagle Butte the 
sandstone appears to be nearly horizontal, but it rises gently toward 
the southwest and near milepost 7 it is high in the hills, and the shale 
below it appears at railroad level. The hill near milepost 7, known 
as Iron Bluff, is noted for the beauty and abundance of the fossil 
shells that occur in limestone concretions‘ in the dark shale. The 
shells are so perfectly preserved that they retain their pearly luster. 
From the kinds of shells occurring in the shale and from its character 
it is known to be the same as the dark shale that is poorly exposed in 
the river bluffs at Valley City, N. Dak. It is called the Pierre shale 
and is of Upper Cretaceous age. The fossil shells show clearly that 
the sea must have occupied this part of the country when the shale 
was deposited. At that time, instead of rolling prairies across North 
Dakota and eastern Montana, there were rolling waves and abundant 


marine life. 








or by the Indians who inhabited the 
region. The only Frenchman who is 
thought to have seen the upper part of the 
Yellowstone Valley before the time of 
Lewis and Clark was Verandrye, who, be- 
tween the years 1738 and 1742, penetrated 
the wilderness far to the west of Lake 
Winnipeg and who wandered for a long 
time among the mountains in an ineffec- 
tual attempt to reach the Pacific slope. 
It is said that he reached the headwaters 
of the Missouri and even penetrated as far 
south as the central part of Wyoming, 
where he was so beset by hostile Indians 
that he was forced to return to the east. 

_ None of the points described by Veran- 
drye have been recognized, so the iden- 
tity of the country which he traversed will 
always remain a matter of doubt. It 
Seems incredible, however, that he should 
have visited the site of the present Yel- 
lowstone Park without noting at least 
Some of the wonderful geysers and hot 
Springs. On this negative evidence it is 
Yeasonable to conclude that he did not 
visit the canyon of the Yellowstone, and 
therefore that the Indians were the first 
people to apply the name. 


| 






1The term concretion is applied to 
rounded bodies of rock that are somewhat 
harder and more resistant than the main 
mass of the formation in which they are 
contained and for that reason remain on 
the surface after the rest of the formation 
has decayed. In many places they are 
nearly spherical, but as a rule they are 
irregular in outline, either elongated in 
a mass resembling the trunk of a tree or 
flattened like a disk. 

The material composing concretions 
differs greatly; in sandstone or sandy 
shale it is generally sand, or sand contain- 
ing a large amount of iron; in limestone it 
is generally chert (a form of silica); in 
shale it consists of limestone or ironstone. 

The concretions of Iron Bluff are doubly 
interesting because they are made up 
almost exclusively of fossil shells. It 
seems probable that the shells grew in 
colonies and thus provided the lime of 
which the concretions are composed. 
The result is very beautiful and many of 
the coiled shells are so perfect that they 
might inspire another Holmes to write a 
poem on the chambered nautilus of the 
ancient sea. 


68 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


The Pierre shale continues to Cedar Creek, 11 miles beyond Glen= 
dive, where, if the traveler looks ahead on the left at milepost 11, he 
will see on the far side of the valley a large ridge 1 in which the rocks 
dip as much as 20° in the direction in which he is going, the opposite 
direction from their dip between Glendive and Caan Creek. In 
other words, the train has crossed a great arch or anticline in the 
rocks, the highest point of which is at Cedar Creek. The Glendive 
seats is ay most pronounced fold in eastern Montana. It 
extends from Yellowstone River in a straight line southeastward into 
the extreme northwest corner of South Dakota. It brings to the 
surface the Pierre shale on the center of the arch, and as this shale 
is softer than the rocks on either side, it gives rise to a belt of country 
having little relief. For this reason it was followed by the Chicago, 
Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway from Marmarth, N. Dak., to Baker, 
Mont. ‘The shale is everywhere rimmed about by the Hee Colgate 
sandstone, and this in turn by the Lance and Fort Union formas 
tions. The form of this fold is shown in figure 7, which represents 


eae FE WS 





PIERRE 
oe ™-WW. 


FIGURE 7.—Diagram of Glendive anticline, Mont., looking east. Gentle dips on northeast side; steep 
dips on southwest side. i 


the strata as they would appear if the observer were in an airplane 
hovering over the flat on the far side of the river and looking up 
the valley of Cedar Creek to the southeast. A short distance peyom , 
the mouth of the creek the steep dips die out and the rocks are § 
nearly flat that they seem to be horizontal. 
At milepost 17, between Hoyt and Marsh, there is a large me ] 
pit on the left fom which ballast has Bean hauled as far east ¢ 
Richardton, N. Dak. This gravel, as well as that occurring at ott or 
places along the river, contains many moss agates which have been 
washed down from the mountains in the vicinity of Yellowstone 
Park, and many fine specimens have been picked up along the track, 
tree beyond the village of Fallon (see sheet 11, p. 72) the Chicago, 7 
Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway enters the vale of Yellowstone 
River from Fallon Creek, and near milepost 36 i 
Fallon. crosses the Northern Pacific tracks by an overheat 
Elevation 2,231 feet. bridge. In this vicinity, as elsewhere in the Yellow 
Population 531.* a has ole ry 
st Paulgo7 mies, stone Valley, two plants characteristic of the sem 
arid West are very abundant, the cottonwood tre 
(Populus) and the sage (Artemisia). The courses of the river ¢ + 
its tributaries can be followed across the prairies where the blus 


SHEET No. 10 





NORTH DAKOTA-MONTANA 











Sheer No.9 











, 
Scale 500,000 ' 
Approximately 8 miles to | inch ' 


H ? 5 Ip \p 20Miles 


10 5 10 15 20 iz 30Kilometers 
Ste teeendeaforerb eden rchreadinerteeccantiaraeenntnbneelnnettaestenaientaaiertonectimetnedlnaetieetenotieasitonel 


Contour interval 200 feet 
ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL | 


The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota. are shown every 10 miles 


The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 














‘ ; i lO4" 





GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 


OF THE 


NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 


From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 


Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
information collected with the assistance of this company 


UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 
David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 


EOED 


Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 
lower left corner is mapped in detai] on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 
Sheet of that name. 





KR 
SJ 


Sheet No.// 











aa 


BULLETIN 611 





SHEET No. 10 


NORTH DAKOTA-MONTANA 








Upper part 


Lance formatibn C 


i 
~ 








Sheer No.9 

















ie | 
€ 
S. 
XPLANATION 1 
SN Scale 500,000 
Thickness Approximately 8 miles to 1 inch 
in feet { 5 19 \ 20Miles 
A Stream deposits (alluvium) Quaternary 
B Sandstone and shale, with beds of lignite (Fort aa ; 10 1S 20 25 30Kilometers 
Union formation) 1,200 Tertiary 
: : Tee Contour interval 200 feet 
C Sandstone and shale, with thin beds of lignite ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
(upper part of Lance formation) 500 
: The distances from St. Paul. Minnesota. are shown every 10 miles 
D Sandstone (Colgate sandstone member of Lance Tertiary (?) ; 
formation). The Colgate probably includes at its [ The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
base some sandstone of Fox Hills, Cretaceous, age = 175} 
E Dark shale (Pierre) 2,500 Cretaceous | 
: 105° 104" 30 Ree 





os as Se ee eee 1O4° 





THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTR. 69 


are low by the lines of cottonwood trees, and even in the lower 
p rt of the mountains these trees are generally found where there is 
running water. Sagebrush originally covered most of the bottom 
' nd of the valley, but it has been removed in many places to make 
om for valuable crops. Many people suppose that the growth of 
sugebrush is indicative of poor soil, but such is not the case, and a 
person familiar with the habits of the plant will always prefer a plot 

of land on which the sagebrush grows to large size. 
The village of Terry, named in honor of Gen. Alfred H. Terry, 
who commanded the expedition of 1876 in what is commonly known 
as the Custer campaign, is served by both the North- 


Terry. ern Pacific and St. Paul roads. The light-colored 
Elevation 2,264 feet. sandstones which give to the Fort Union formation 
Population 775.* 


its distinctive color are well developed between 
Cedar Creek and Terry, but at Terry, in the lower 
part of the formation, there begins a change in color and composition 
that will become more evident as the traveler proceeds westward.! 

About 2 miles above Terry the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 
Railway crosses Yellowstone River, and it remains on the far side 
nearly to Miles City. The big coal bed at the base of the Lebo 
shale may be observed on both sides of the valley as far as the mouth 
of Powder River and on the opposite side of the river for some dis- 
tance beyond that point. The rocks rise gradually upstream, and 
within a short distance the Lebo shale, which is only a little above 
river level at Terry, rises so high that it disappears from the adjacent 
bluffs and the underlying Lance forms all the hills that are in sight 
between Powder and Tongue rivers. 

In the vicinity of Miles City is Signal Butte, a high knob about 
4 miles southwest of the railway, which can be seen from passing 


St. Paul 706 miles. 





! The large lignite bed on the west side 
of the river, which can readily be seen 
from the train near Terry, is regarded as 
the base of the Fort Union formation. 
Beginning a short distance down the 
river below Terry, there appears just 
above this bed a band of dark shale which 
increases in thickness up the river to 50 


feet in the bluff opposite the town and to: 


200 feet a mile or so farther west. The 
traveler, if he looks closely, can recognize 
this more somber-colored belt. It is 
made up of dark shale and sandstone, 


which, when examined under a micro- 


scope, are found to contain a large quan- 
tity of volcanic material in the form of 
lava fragments and volcanic dust or ash. 
These particles have been washed and 


rolled over in water until all have been 


reduced to fine mud or sand. This band 
of dark material has been followed west- 
ward nearly to its source, which must 
have been somewhere in the vicinity of 
Yellowstone Park. In that region the 
formation is much thicker than it is 
farther east and the materials composing 
it are coarser, as would naturally be 
expected of material dropped near the 
shore. South or southwest of Livingston 
there were at one time great volcanic 
outbursts, and the material thus thrown 
out was swept away by the currents of 
water and deposited in a layer that ex- 
tended for a great distance toward the 
east. This widespread sheet of volcanic 
sedimentary material is known as the 
Lebo shale member of the Fort Union 
formation. 


70 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


trains. It is reported that in the early days, before the railway had 
been built into this region, officers from Fort Keogh (ke’o) used this 
butte for sending and receiving messages from the Black Hills, 175 
miles distant. The signaling was done with a heliograph, an instru- 
ment for reflecting the sun’s rays in any desired direction and flash- 
ing messages in the Morse code. On account of this use the knob 
received its name. 

Miles City, at the mouth of Tongue River, was named in honor of 
Gen. Nelson A. Miles, an experienced Indian fighter, who had 

already established Fort Keogh on the river bottom 

Miles City. about 2 miles farther west. Miles City is said to be 
Elevation 2,377 feet. the greatest horse market in the West, and is also an 
ay al important wool-shipping point. In the early days the 
principal industry was the hunting of the buffalo or 

bison, and it is reported that as many as 250,000 hides were shipped 
from this place in one season. Such num- 
bers are almost inconceivable, but it is well 
known that the buffalo roamed the plains 
in great herds, and when the slaughter was 
carried on in wholesale fashion the number 
killed must have been very great. Capt. 
' cui Clark and his party, in descending the Yel- 
aS HAW? Wile lowstone in boats, were forced to wait near 
yer NEE cs Wiis Glendive until a herd of buffalo numbering, 
ane wh a — by his estimate, 80,000 had crossed the 

Fiaure8.—Sun-bleached skullnear river. Now all traces of the buffalo are 

So yn eee eet ne gone from these plains except an occasional 

great herds of buffalo that once gun-bleached skull or a few weather-beaten 

roamed these plains. horns. (See fig. 8.) : 

Some distance below Tongue River the St. Paul road crosses the’ 
Yellowstone, and Miles City has the advantage of two transconti- 
nental ae : 

West of Tongue River, on the right (north), is Fort Keogh, whicl 
was built by Gen. Miles in 1877 and eines in honor of Capt. Myles WwW. 
Keogh, who perished in the Battle of the Little Bighorn the year 
before. For a long time this was probably the most important post 
in the Indian country, but now it is used only as a remount ntatiowy 
where horses are trained for cavalry service. 

The St. Paul road crosses to the north side of the Yellowstone 
again a short distance above Fort Keogh, and it remains on that 
Stik: of the stream to Forsyth, where it turns northwestward andl 
crosses the divide to Musselshell River. The Northern Pacific line 
continues on the south side, running in places along the wide, flat 
bottoms and in others on the river bank, where it is overhung by 
cliffs and steep slopes of sandstone, shale, and coal beds of the Lance 





THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 


71 


formation. Generally the coal beds are thin or variable in thickness: 
but in places they thicken, as between mileposts 92 and 93, where 
four beds are visible from the train. Two or three of these beds are 
thick enough to work and some day may be mined, although the coal 
is not of very high quality. It is much better, however, than the 
lignite of North Dakota or that around Glendive and is classed as 
subbituminous—a grade between lignite and ordinary bituminous 
coal. 

A similar change in the character of the coal or lignite can be found 
in almost all the fields of the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific coast. 
In every field the coal improves in quality toward the mountains, 
in places ranging from lignite to subbituminous coal or from sub- 
bituminous coal to anthracite within the limits of a single field. 
Such changes are doubtless due to greater stresses in the rocky crust 
of the earth in the mountains than in the plains, and as the coal is 
the weakest member of the rocks forming that crust it was most 
compressed and changed. 

The chief interest in the trip from Miles City to Rosebud lies in 
the fact that the railroad was constructed along the same route as 
that followed by Custer in his approach to the great battle that 


terminated his career.! 


' In the spring of 1876 the Sioux Indians 
exhibited signs of unrest, and some of the 
more adventurous spirits among them de- 
serted their reservations and began to 
assemble a force which the Government 
feared might at any time take the war- 
path and cause pillage and slaughter 
along the frontier. Sitting Bull was the 
leader of the insurrection. Gen. Crook 
with 1,000 men at Fort Fetterman (near 
Douglas), on North Platte River, Wyo.; 
Gen. Terry with another 1,000 at Fort 
Abraham Lincoln, near Mandan, N. Dak.; 
and Gen. Gibbon with 450 men at Fort 
Ellis, near Bozeman, Mont., were ordered 
to force the Sioux back to their reserva- 
tions. 
The command of Gen. Crook, the great- 
est Indian fighter of his time, was de- 
feated by the Indians in a battle on the 
headwaters of Rosebud River June 17, 
before he could effect a junction with the 
other parts of the expedition. He tried 
to notify Terry and Custer of his defeat 
-and to warn them of the great number of 
Indians engaged in the campaign, but 

his scouts failed to reach them, and Cus- 


ter proceeded from the mouth of Tongue 
River (Miles City) June 19, supposing the 
Indian force to be a small one which he 
could overcome in a single daring charge. 
Custer had just returned from Washing- 
ton, where he had had difficulty with his 
superior officers, and, doubtless smarting 
under the charges made against him and 
the indignity of a threatened court-mar- 
tial, he was in the mood to stake all on 
the chance of winning an immediate and 
brilliant victory. Maj. Reno, of his com- 
mand, had been on a scouting trip into 
the Rosebud Valley, where he found 
abundant indications of asparty of Indians 
who had recently moved westward toward 
the Little Bighorn. 

On June 21 Custer’s command camped 
at the mouth of Rosebud River, where 
they were joined by the troops under the 
command of Gen. Gibbon. The plan of 
the battle was for Custer to move up the 
Rosebud until he found the trail reported 
by Reno and then to follow it until he 
reached the Indian camp, which was sup- 
posed to be on the Little Bighorn. Gib- 
bon’s command was to march back on 


72 
West of Fort Keogh the railway follows the river past the small 


GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


villages of Hathaway and Joppa to Rosebud, at the mouth of Rose- n 


bud River. (See sheet 12, p. 78.) The scenery along 
this part of Yellowstone River is not particularly 
striking, but many interesting views may be obtained, 
especially if the trip is made late in the season, when 
the water is low, for at that time it is generally clear, 
whereas in June the stream, swollen by the melting snow in the 
mountains, becomes a muddy torrent. Streams in this condition 
may be interesting as vehicles for the transportation of earthy ma- 
terial, but they are certainly not attractive. 

Where the river swings close against the rocky bluffs the traveler 
may obtain through the soft foliage of the willows and cottonwoods 
vistas of deep, quiet pools that reflect all the colors of the clouds and 
sky, or of tumbling rapids where accumulated bowlders interfere with 
the progress of the stream. 
side bold and rugged cliffs and on the other the upland stretching 


Rosebud. 


Elevation 2,501 feet. 
Population 370.* 
St. Paul 778 miles. 


These views have for a setting on one- 


+ 


* 


4 


| 


| 
! 


3 


away to the horizon in a monotonous expanse of dry and dusty plain. — 


In other places the outlook is over the wide valley bottom, which | 


irrigation has made an oasis in the desert of sagebrush hills and 


broken cliffs. 








the north side of the Yellowstone to the 
mouth of Bighorn River, and there Terry 
and Gibbon were to meet them on the 
steamer Far West and ferry them across the 
river. Gibbon was then to lead his com- 
mand up the Bighorn and strike the enemy 
from the north at the same time that Custer 
made his attack on the east and south. 
Custer did not pause at the mouth of the 
Rosebud but was away the next morning 
on his march up that stream. After fol- 
lowing it for about 70 miles he found the 
great trail that the Indians had made 
across the ridge toward the Little Big- 
horn. He did not wait to give Gibbon 
time to move his troops up from the mouth 
of Bighorn River but pressed on until 
the Indians were actually sighted in an 
enormous camp on the Little Bighorn. 
Here he divided his forces, directing 


Reno to descend to the stream at the up- 


per end of the camp and sweep down the 
valley, while he scouted along the hills 
on the east, apparently intending to at- 
tack the Sioux from that side simulta- 


neously with Reno’s charge and put them 
to flight. | 
Reno failed in his effort to drive the 
Indians down the valley and early in the — 
action took to the hills on the east, where 
after considerable fighting he managed to 
secure a position that he held throughout 
the engagement. The whole force of the 
Indians was then directed against Custer, — 
and he, as well as his entire command, — 
with the exception of an Indian guide, — 
were slain. Reno was besieged in the hills © 
until he was rescued by the force under — 
Gibbon, which arrived, however, too. 
late to take an active part in the battle. » 
When Gibbon’s troops arrived the In- : 
dians left the valley and after some 
skirmishes with the soldiers returned > 
their reservations. , 
The soldiers killed in this battle num- 
bered 265. They are buried in a national — 
cemetery on the spot where they fell, 
with fitting monuments commemorating 
the bravery of their last fight against 
overwhelming numbers. 








SHEET No. 1 


MONTANA _ | 











y 
Cra ot oe 
S \ ( \ ee 
SS ‘ee \ Mi 
‘ ( 
ie) 
> 
9 
=< 
( a, 
tt, 7 iy) 
eS : 
‘dl 2 PS 














Se 46\ | 
‘ 30 





EXPLANATION 


Thickness 
in feet 


A Stream deposits (alluvium) Quaternary 


B Sandstone and shale, with beds of lignite 
(upper part of Fort Union formation) 


€ Dark shale with some sandstone and Tertiary 
beds of lignite (Lebo shale member of 


Fort Union formation) 0 to 340 


dD Sandstone and shale, with thin beds 


of lignite (Lance formation) 140 +#Tertiary (7) 





| moana Ply 
105 30’ 





ENGRAVED ANDO PRINTED OY THE U-S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 





GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 


OF THE 


NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 


From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 


Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
the Northern Pacifie Railway Company and from additional 
information collected with the assistance of this company 


UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 
David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 


1915 


Each quadrangle shown on the map with a naine in parenthesis in the 
lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 
¢ Sheet of that name. 


BULLETIN 611 




















ie 





l06‘00" 
A 
bes 
Scale 500,000 
Approximately 8 miles to | inch 
\ 5 10 \5 
10 5 10 See 20 25 


Contour interval 200 feet 
ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 


The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota. are shown every 10 miles 


The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 














20Miles 


30Kilometers 








Sheet No /2 
aw) 
AN 





(ON Sy ae \ 
ltd 22] 7 
pas Gi ee ee. 
r Ve eee ere 
th —-—. \ ca 
ee Bo 
| . if “i ate 2 }, w"S ae 
\ \ WN aS CNS 
] \ > 
) BS 
ec 
Se Met ee 
ee e i \ ye 
a 3% Fan > 
Sf | 
Pe ) 
a 
| 
Ye eee _- 





me Uo pad N\UVREE aie) } KO" ‘ee 


: sen elles aia) i us) Ww. mS 
Ps rai St ia te ; wise 
eee die: 












) \ 
x 


LG Seed 

: / 
/ | \ 
oll {| Hebe * 
‘ti 9 Ke Xa y ex on \ 

















, 
a 





fe ia 


\ 


$ 





» J 
al 


| 
PAR Enion 


MN 





EXPLANATION 


Stream deposits (alluvium) 


Sandstone and shale, with beds of lignite 
{upper part of Fort Union formation) 


Dark shale with some sandstone and 


beds of lignite (Lebo shale member of 


Fort Union formation) 


Sandstone and shale, with thin beds 
of lignite (Lance formation) 





SHEET No. 11 


MONTANA 














Sheet No./O 















Thickness 
in feet 
Quaternary 
850 
Tertiary 
0 to 340 
140 ~=—- Tertiary (?) 


a2 Se ee i ee 





ENGRAVED ANO PRINTED BY THE U-S.GEQLOSICAL SURVEY 


73 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 


The Lance formation makes rugged bluffs along the river from 
Miles City to Forsyth. This formation extends across North Dakota, 
Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming. The coal or lignite beds 
that characterize it in many places and the fossil leaves and branches 
that have been found almost everywhere in the sandstone and shale 
composing it show clearly that it was laid down in lakes and ponds. 
It is also certain that at the time it was deposited great forests 
flourished over much of the area of the States mentioned, where are 
now the treeless wastes of the Great Plains. The trees of that time 
were similar to those of the Fort Union epoch, as described on page 
57. The formation of coal beds means that the land was flat and 
probably at low level. The plains country and much of that which 

‘is now mountainous was at that time low and swampy, supporting a 
luxuriant tangle of large trees, underbrush, vines, and water plants. 
The strange creatures that roamed through that ancient forest or 
swam in its shallow lakes are described below by Charles W. Gilmore, 


of the United States National Museum.! 


1 Where vegetation grew as luxuriantly 
as in the swamps and lowlands of Lance 
time there must have been animals to 
subsist upon it and in turn other animals 
to feed upon them. The Lance forma- 
tion is noted for the remains of great rep- 
tiles that it contains, and all the large 
museums of the country have skeletons 
or models of these wonderful dinosaurs, 
as they are called. 

One of the best-known dinosaurs is 
called Triceratops (meaning literally 

_three-horned face), so named because he 
had over each eye a massive horn di- 
rected forward and terminating in a long, 
sharp point and a third, but much smaller 
horn, on the nose, not unlike that of the 
modern rhinoceros. A mounted skeleton 





into consideration, relatively smaller than 
that of any other known land animal. 

That Triceratops was a fighter is shown 
by the finding of broken and healed bones. 
A pair of horns in the National Museum 
bear mute witness to such an encounter, 
for they had been broken and then 
rounded over and healed while the ani- 
mal was alive. 

In the earlier restorations or models of 
this animal, as shown in Plate X (p. 74), 
the skin was represented as being smooth 
and leathery, but in a specimen recently 
discovered the well-preserved skin shows 
that it was made up of a series of scales of 
various sizes. 

Triceratops, as indicated by the struc- 


ture of his teeth, was manifestly a plant- 


eating animal, his food probably being 
leaves and branches of low trees and 
shrubs. Hatcher, the most noted col- 
lector of Triceratops in the United States, 
has pictured the country at the time these 
animals lived as being made up of vast 
Swamps with wide watercourses that were 


of Triceratops in the National Museum in 
Washington is about 20 feet long and 
stands 8 feet high at the hips. Some of 
the skulls that have been found measure 
“more than 8 feet, or nearly one-third of 
the length of the entire animal, includ- 
ing the tail. The great length of skull 





is due to the fact that the neck was pro- 
tected by a bony frill, which projected 
backward from the skull like a fireman’s 
helmet or like the large ruffs that were 
worn in Queen Elizabeth’s time. AI- 
though the brain of this dinosaur is large, 
it is, when the size of the skull is taken 


constantly shifting their channels, the 
whole resembling the Everglades of 
Florida. The entire region, where the 
waters were not too deep, was covered by 
an abundant vegetation and inhabited by 
the huge dinosaurs as well as by croco- 
diles, alligators, turtles, and diminutive 


74 


GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


During Lance time the crossing of the continent must have been 
attended by dangers beside which those of the African wilds seem 
trivial indeed. The traveler may be glad that he is safely ensconced 
in a railway car instead of facing the terrible ferocity of some wan- 


dering dinosaur as big as a house. 


But the days of these monsters 


have passed away, and their former presence is recorded only in the 
skeletons which here and there are found embedded in the rocks. 
Just across the river from Forsyth a skeleton of Triceratops was found 





animals, fossil remains of which are now 
found embedded in the sand and mud that 
were deposited in those old swamps. 
There lived at the same time the great 
duck-billed reptile Trachodon, the best- 
known and presumably the commonest 
dinosaur of its time. The length of an 
average-sized individual, measured from 
the end of the nose to the tip of the tail, 
was 30 feet, and as he walked erect on his 
huge three-toed hind feet, the tip of the 
head, which was nearly a yard long, was 
from 12 to 15 feet above the ground. The 
nose expanded into a broad duck-billed 
beak, which was covered with a horny 
sheath, as in birds and turtles, and was 
admirably adapted to pulling up the 
rushes and other water plants upon which 
the creature lived. That Trachodon 
lived in the water is shown by the webbed 
fingers of the fore foot and the long, deep, 
flattened tail, which was a most efficient 
swimming organ and equally useful as a 
counterbalance to the weight of his body 
when he was striding about on his hind 
legs on the land. The skin, as shown by 
specimens that have been found, was thin 
and covered with tubercles of two sizes, 
the larger ones predominating on surfaces 
exposed to the sun. One of the most 
remarkable features of this great brute was 
the set of teeth with which he was pro- 
vided. Inthat respect he was much bet- 
ter off than the human being, for as soon 
as a tooth was worn out or lost, it was re- 
placed by another pushed up from below. 
Each jaw had from 40 to 60 rows on each 
side and from 10 to 14 teeth in each row, 
hence there must have been more than 
2,000 teeth in the mouth of one individual. 
There were also flesh-eating and conse- 
quently armored reptiles in Lance time. 


The most highly specialized of the ar- 

mored reptiles was Ankylosaurus, which 

was covered by a great number of flat- 

tened ridged-skin plates of bone, arranged 

in rows across the broad back. The rep- 
tile was low of stature and had at the end - 
of his stout, heavy tail a great triangular 
club of bone, which when he moved 
about must have dragged on the ground. 
The head was short and blunt, and the eye 
was provided with a cup-shaped bony 

shutter that could be closed over the eye- 

ball when the creature was harassed by 

his enemies. With all vulnerable parts 
thus protected by bony armor, this living 

fortress had little to fear from his blood- 
thirsty contemporaries. Ankylosaurus 
doubtless had need of his armor, for there 
were many other flesh-eating dinosaurs _ 
that swarmed in the forests or swam in 
the sluggish waters. The most striking 
of these was Tyrannosaurus, or tyrant 
lizard, the largest land-walking carnivor-_ 
ous animal the world has ever known. 
He was 40 feet long and, in a standing 
position on his hind legs, was 18 or 20 feet 
high. The fore legs were exceedingly 
small, and he must have walked entirely 
upon his powerful hind legs, the knee 
joint of which was 6 feet above the ground. 
At the American Museum of Natural His- 
tory, New York, there is a perfect skull of 
this animal. It is with a feeling of awe 
that the spectator stands before the huge 
head with jaws 4 feet long, filled with bris- 
tling rows of sharp-pointed teeth, several 
of which project at least 6 inches from their 
socket, and he can not help wondering 
what part such a creature played in the 
economy of nature and whether he was as 
important to his time and place as the 
animals that live to-day. 











"JaYyo}peH ‘Gg ‘'f JO UO!]OAJIP BY, 4epUN spew JYsIuUy 'y °o Aq Buljured wol4 


‘VLOMVd HLYON GNV YNVLNOW JO S1S3YO4 SHL HONOYHL GSNVOY SWIL SONV1 NI HOIHM ‘(30V4 GANYOH-SSYHL) SdOLVYSOINL LVSYOD FHL 








BULLETIN 611 PLATE XI! 


U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 





A. BLUFFS OF LANCE FORMATION ON YELLOWSTONE RIVER WEST OF HYSHAM, MONT. 





B, FOSSIL PALM LEAF OF EOCENE AGE FOUND NEAR HYSHAM, MONT. 


The climate of Montana must have been warmer and more moist than it is to-day to have permitted the growth 
of palms and other subtropical plants. 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 75 


several years ago, and bones of these animals may be seen occasionally 
in riding about the country. 

Forsyth, the county seat of Rosebud County, a district terminal of 
the Northern Pacific Railway, is one of the thriving towns in the 

Yellowstone Valley. It was named for Gen. J. W. 
Forsyth. Forsyth, one of the military pioneers of this coun- 
ol eeaagad feet. try. Opposite the town the Chicago, Milwaukee & 
St. Paul 791 miles, ot. Paul Railway, which has followed Yellowstone 

River from Terry, leaves the valley and goes in a 
northwesterly direction to the Musselshell Valley in the vicinity of the 
new towns of Musselshell and Roundup. 

Beyond Forsyth an anticline crosses the Yellowstone Valley, but 
it is not so distinct as the one above Glendive. The first indication 
that the traveler may observe of a change from the Lance formation, 
which is at railway level from Terry to Forsyth, is that after passing 
Armells Creek, just beyond milepost 130, the width of the valley 
suddenly increases and the bluffs lose their rugged character. These 
features mdicate the presence of softer rocks, and while the formation 
containing them is not visible from the train a close examination of 
the bluffs would show that they are composed of dark shale—the 
same dark shale that the traveler saw at Cedar Creek, above Glendive. 
This shale normally underlies the Lance, and its presence near railway 
level here means that the rocks rise west of Forsyth and the next lower 
formation is brought to view. ! 





‘The dark shale noted near Glendive | supposed to represent the cut edges of the 
is called the Pierre shale, but the dark | formations as they lie in the ground. 
shale that makes its appearance near In the Black Hills, and so far as known 
Howard and is said to be the same as the | at Glendive, the Upper Cretaceous rocks 
Pierre, is called Bearpaw. The change | begin with the Dakota sandstone at the 


































































Billings Blase Hs 
a E €arpon—sreale== 
. Eee ane Sie aan ne aiateoe sig a. ms, see 8 8s SS a = =e 
Wee aworth River formation — 25 2 SS SSS i =Pierre shale= 






























=== C a0 9 format SSS 




















RE 
Pee 

































































FIGURE 9.—Diagram showing the thinning out and coming in of formations from the Black Hills, S. Dak., 
to Billings, Mont. : 


: 

in the Cretaceous formations along an | base, resting upon the Lower Cretaceous. 
east-west line from the Black Hills to | Over this are two great shales (Benton 
Billings, Mont., and the reason for the | and Pierre) and a limestone (Niobrara) 
introduction of new names for the forma- | of marine origin, and capping all is the 
tions are explained by figure 9, which is | Lance, a fresh-water deposit. 








GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


76 


The high hills composed of Lance sandstones (see Pl. XI, A, p. 75), 
as shown on sheet 12 (p. 78), recede from the river until at Howard 
they are more than 2 miles from the railway, and 

the low hills near by are made up of the Bearpaw 

shale. The outcrop of the shale crosses the river 

and then swings far to the northeast around a dome- 

shaped structure in the rocks that brmgs this and 

lower fartnaiteine up to the surface. 
The valley increases in width until m the vicinity of Finch thal 
Lance sandstones are so far back from the river that they are hidden 
by the low hills of shale at the margin of the valley 
bottom. At milepost 141, a short distance east of 
Sanders, a massive gray sandstone rises from rive 
level until it attains a height above the railway of 
about 30 feet. Beyond this point it descends toward the west and 
within a short distance disappears below railway level. The highest 
point on this sandstone marks the axis of a large irregular uplift 
which lies almost entirely north of the railway. 
This sandstone is known to be the extreme eastern point of the 
Judith River, a coal-bearing formation (see fig. 9) that is exposed 
in many places in the central part of the State. In its best develop 
ment it is a fresh-water deposit, but the sandstone near Sanders 
contains marine shells, showing that the shore of the land upon 
which the fresh-water sediments of the central part of the State were 
laid down was near this place, and that to the east of that shore line 
sand was deposited in the waters of the sea. A deep well recently 
drilled for water at Vananda, on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 
Railway about 16 miles northwest of Forsyth, started in this sand- 
stone and struck the red shale of the Kootenai formation (see fig. 9) 
at a depth of about 3,200 feet. 
The relatively flat land in the bottom of this valley, althougll 
originally only a sagebrush plain, was attractive to farmers, and an 
extensive private irrigation project has been developed. Water 1 
taken from the river at Myers, between Hysham and Rancher, and 


Howard. 


Elevation 2,600 feet. 
Population 139.* 
St. Paul 800 miles. 



















Finch. . 


Elevation 2,595 feet. 
St. Paul 806 miles. 


character in its lower part, and three more 
or less sandy formations—the Eagle sand. 


Westward from the Black Hills the 
Niobrara fades out as a limestone, and at 


Billings it can not be identified and sepa- 
rated from the Benton. The entire mass 
of shale is called the Colorado, and this is 
equivalent to both the Benton and the 
Niobrara. The Dakota disappears west of 
the Black Hillsand the Coloradoshale rests 
upon the Kootenai (Lower Cretaceous). 
In the east the great marine deposit 
above the Niobrara is known as the Pierre 
shale. Toward the west this changes in 


another name (Bearpaw). 


stone and the Claggett and Judith River 
formations—have been recognized and 
named. The dark shale above the Judith 
River is in composition and appearaneé 
like the Pierre, but as it represents only ¢ 
small part of that formation it is given 
The Lance 
formation is apparently continuous and 
regular throughout the section hen 
described. 












U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 611 PLATE XII 





VIEWS IN THE SHEEP RANGE OF MONTANA. 


As shown in the upper view, the watchful herder and the equally vigilant sheep dogs guard the defenseless flock, 
The covered wagon shown in the lower view has been developed to meet the special needs of the sheep 
herder. It is light in weight and commodious and in bad weather affords protection from the fierce storms 
which sweep over the Montana plains, 


U. & GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 611 PLATE Xill 





A. POMPEYS PILLAR, MONT., AS SEEN FROM THE NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILWAY, 


The inscription shown below is on the other side of the pillar, 





B. INSCRIPTION MADE BY CAPTAIN CLARK ON POMPEYS PILLAR JULY 25, 1806. 
Now protected by an iron grating, Photograph furnished by the Northern Pacific Railway. 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. aT 


carried by a gravity system down the valley for a distance of 30 
miles. Part of this system has only recently been opened, so that 
all the land is not cultivated, but in the older parts fine crops are 
raised. 
West of the sandstone outcrop the valley floor is again sraooth, 
showing that the soft shale forms it as well as the low hills that 
appear far to the left (south). A little beyond 
Sanders. Sanders the railway crosses Sarpy Creek, one of the 
Elevation 2,618 feet. well-known places of the early days, for here was 
a reas located Fort Sarpy, an important trading post of the 
American Fur Co. and the headquarters of many 
of the hunters and trappers of the Northwest. The post was 


‘named for if not established by Col. Peter Sarpy, who was an 


agent of the fur company for 30 years after its organization. 

At Hysham the valley is very wide, 

the hills being at least 2 miles back from eR, 
therailway. By looking = 


ma 
Hysham. ahead on the left, after Sa 


| Elevation 2,667 feet. leaving this town, the 
_ St. Paul 818 miles. 
the Lance formation coming in close to 


the track, and for several miles the road 
follows the river bank under a towering 


few years ago thegreat opensheeprange — *%17" oy wit eth Ble 


Population 162.* 
ipa traveler can see the rug- 


ged sandstone walls of 





cliff that rises to a height of 300 feet. 
The traveler is now in what was a 











ta 


ha As 
DD AY Plt Uf 
POM, oS i f 





vice MS TNO 
: Q Mi My Sty 
Ma gS aN Me 


=X | 


of Montana. Single ranches had flocks Paltiat) ag CHa 


| ranging from a few hundred to as many Ficurs 10.—Monument built by sheep 


as 40,000sheep. These were not kept in 


herder. 


-afenced inclosure as is done in the East but were herded in bands of a 


ee Nw eae a 22 _ aa»: 





few hundred or a few thousand each. To each band was assigned 
one or two herders who with horses to draw a covered wagon and a 
faithful dog followed the sheep for months at a time without returning 
to the home ranch. (See Pl. XII.) Hour after hour, day after day, 
and week after week were spent in watching the sheep, with abso- 
lutely nothing to break the monotony of the rolling treeless plain 
except here and there low hills of barren rock. The herder would 
stand upon such eminences when the sheep were quietly feeding and 
no coyotes near to cause uneasiness and, to amuse himself, would 
build monuments of the loose rocks (fig. 10). In the course of time 
monuments of this kind were erected on almost every hill and on all 
the commanding points of the river bluffs, and the traveler can 


doubtless see them from the passing train. 


; | 
+e 

y, 
o? : 


78 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 4 
q 


The dry-land farmer has gradually encroached upon the open range, 
and before long large flocks feeding upon it will be seen no more, — 
Conditions will become more and more like those in the East, and 
finally the sheep herder, like his enemy the cowboy, will pass out of 
existence and will live fats on the canvas of some Remington or 
Russell. 

The next station is Bighorn, which is only a short distance east of 
Bighorn River. This is Tignes ground also, for it has been occupied 

almost continuously since it was first visited by Capt, 
Bighorn. Clark July 26,1806. In the year immediately follow- 
Elevation 2,712feet. ing Olark’s visit Manuel Lisa, one of the restless, 
“eae adventurous spirits of the frontier, established a 
trading post here which afforded a rendezvous for many of the 
hunters of the region. In 1822 Col. William H. Ashley, president of 
the Rocky Mountain Fur Co., built a trading post 2 miles below the 
mouth of Bighorn River ited he called Fort Van Buren. It was 
here also that Gen. Gibbon, in 1876, crossed the Yellowstone andl 
proceeded overland with his detachment of 450 men to cooperate in 
the Battle of the Little Bighorn, which Custer had already lost. 

A little beyond Bighorn station the train crosses Bighorn River 
and, skirting the base of sandstone bluffs for a distancs of 3 miles, 
plunges into the blackness of the Bighorn tunnel, to” 
emerge at the town of Custer. This town derived its 
Elevation 2,749 feet. name from the fact that it was the stopping place 
Population 335.* i be 
St. Paul 839 miles. | for persons going to old Fort Custer, at the mouth 

of Little Bighorn River, but, despite the fact that the 
post has been abandoned, Custer retains its importance on account 
of its situation in the center of a fine agricultural district. Several 
years ago the skeleton of a Triceratops was found in the Lance forma= 
tion which makes the river bluff opposite this place. 

West of Custer the bluffs on both sides of the river are composed o 
sandstone of the Lance formation, but they are not so prominent ‘ 
those below the mouth of gather River. In places the low hills 
rise abruptly from the water’s edge and the roadbed of the railway 
was made by blasting the solid rock. Generally, however, the hills” 
are back half a mile or so from the track. g 

From Waco (see sheet 13, p. 82) to Bull Mountain the same kind 
of topography prevails, except that the bluffs on the north side 
of the river are more pronounced and rise abruptly 
from the water level. Near Bull Mountain the hills on 
the south are farther from the track, lower, and less- 
rugged than they are farther east. Such changes in the 
appearance of surface features are due to the presence of softer rocks. 
Here the formations are rising westward, and at Bull Mountain 
the Bearpaw shale, underlying the Lance formation, is again brought 


Custer. 










Bull Mountain. 


Elevation 2,867 feet. 
St. Paul 856 miles. 





hieckness 
in feet 


Quaternary 


Tertiary 


Tertiary (7?) 


Upper 
Cretaceous 


20Miles 
25 30Kilometers 


pet 
SEA LEVEL 


own every 10 miles 
d1 mile apart 


SHEET No, 12 





ae ; MONTANA |} 


| 


7 | | SHEET No. 12 
BULLETIN 611 i ie ec AS a ee , ea 













Ae 
va 2800 Se 


Si peers NY ey eo oan A in ae era ae 
\O. 4 ae Das 
AS Alluvium + A 


GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 


OF THE 


NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 


From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 


Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
Sheets, from railroad alignments and _ profiles supplied by 
the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
information collected with the assistance of this company 


UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 
David White, Chief Geologist R, B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 


1915 


“oS 






tJ4 58. A / 
=x, Member of } \ re 
Faye Union e ) : 
lew 


a t 
form. <= 
Z 
























Each quadrangle shown on the map with a naine in parenthesis in the 
lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 


— ; 
Oo. 


wXPLANATION 
Sheet of that name. EX 
Thickness ; 
in feet 
A Stream deposits (alluvium) ~ Quaternary 


3 Dark shale with some sandstone 
and beds of lignite (Lebo shale ; 
member of Fort Union formation) 150 Tertiary 


Sheet No./3 


Sheet No.// 


C Sandstone and shale, with thin beds pe 
of coal (Lance formation) 1,100 Tertiary (7?) 


i 
ae : : > 
Dark shale, marine deposit (Bearpaw) 900 





D 


K, White sandstone and shale, marine Upper 
deposits (Judith River formation) 200 Cretaceous 


7 


- : $ iV oF 
Shale and sandstone, marine deposits, | R Be 
; : 5 
(Claggett formation) 600 | z 


1 ; Ro we” 

Scale 500,500 4 
Approximately 8 miles to | inch Pcl 

; 5 10 \ 20Miies f 
i) 5 10 iS 20 25 30Kilometers f 
Ge eee eee : f 
Contour interval 200 feet Pe 

ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL i 


, 
The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles ee 


The Grossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 





Battlefield Hig ak 


Se ee oe ad 
\ i ae rie 
2 ™~ a Oe ae ae Oe me oe 
{ 
= ; 


107 








ENGRAVED AND PRINTEO BY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 79 


to the surface, but because of its softness it soon weathers down to a 
dark mud that so conceals the rock from which it was derived that 
the rock can not be seen from the train. 

West of Bull Mountain the Northern Pacific Railway crosses the 
northern point of one of the great mountain-making folds of the 
Rocky Mountains. The rocky layers or formations have been forced 
up into a great arch which has a breadth, where crossed by the rail- 
way, of 75 miles and a length of about 180 miles. In the region of 
its greatest development in Wyoming it forms the Bighorn Mountains, 
and it is generally spoken of as the Bighorn uplift or anticline, but 
the northern projection into Montana has a local development in 
Pryor Mountain and for that reason is known as the Pryor Mountain 
anticline. 

As the railway crosses the fold at its north end, where the forma- 
tions swing around in broad curves, it cuts the outcrops at oblique 
angles or follows them for a considerable distance. It is because of 
this fact that the hills on the left are smooth and low, indicative of 
shale, and the bluffs on the opposite side of the river are rugged, 
being composed of sandstone. 

One of the most striking mementos of the early exploration of 
the Yellowstone Valley is Pompeys Pillar (Pl. XIII, p. 77), a lone 
butte, 200 feet high, between mileposts 196 and 197. In descending 
the Yellowstone Capt. Clark noted this butte and from its isolated 
position and vertical walls called it Pompeys Pillar. He states con- 
cerning it, “‘Il marked my name and the day of the month and year.” 
Halfway up on the side near the river is to be seen Clark’s rude 
inscription, now protected by an iron grating. The sandstone 
forming Pompeys Pillar is near the base of the Lance formation, and 
the westward rise of the rocks soon brings up the dark marine Bear- 
paw shale, but near the railway this shale is covered by soil and can 
not be seen from the train. 

From Pompeys Pillar to Huntley the railway line is in the middle 
of a broad, flat bottom, which is irrigated by water taken from the 
river a short Femnce above the mouth of Pryor 
Creek, under the Huntley project of the United 
States Reclamation Service... The underlying rocks 
are not visible from the train except at a great dis- 
tance on the right. As shown on sheet 13 (p. 82), the first formation 
to be passed over beyond Pompeys Pillar is dark shale (Bearpaw) of 


Newton. 


Elevation 2,915 feet. 
St. Paul 866 miles. 





_ +The Huntley project covers an area of 
33,000 acres in the broad valley of Yellow- 
stone River. In 1907 this region was a 
part of the Crow Indian Reservation and 
was uninhabited. To-day it contains 400 
farm families and six towns. The trans- 





formation wrought by Government irriga- 
tion is apparent in the present compact, 
intensively cultivated farms, in substan- 
tial farm buildings, and in growing towns. 

A few farms under this project are open 
to homestead entry under the terms of the 


80 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


marine origin. Next is a formation (Judith River) which in many 
places carries coal beds and was laid down on the land or in shallow 
lakes. It is soft and mostly light colored, but at a distance it can 
not be distinguished from the overlying Bearpaw shale. 

At Huntley the Northern Pacific is joined by the Kansas City line 
of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, and the two systems 

use the same tracks from Huntley to Bulings. Pryor 
Huntley. Creek, which is crossed by the train soon after leay- 
Elevation 3,038 feet. ing Huntley, was named by Capt. Clark for one of 
Lae his party. West of the creek the railway is at the 

foot of a precipitous bluff of greenish sandstone, in 
places thick bedded, which is the upper part of the Claggett forma- 
tion. This underlies the Judith River formation and from the fossils 
that it contains is known to have been laid down in the sea. Thus, 
under the influence of the great Pryor Mountain anticline, lower and 
lower rocks are in turn brought to the surface. Beyond the bluff 
the sandstone rises until near milepost 220 it can be seen on the left 
(south) just capping the highest hills. The rock underlying the sand- 
stone is not exposed here, but it is known to consist of soft shale, the 
lower part of the same formation. Where it is crossed by the line 
of the railway, the valley is broad and the slopes on either side are 
smooth and gentle. 

West of the open part of the valley just described the hills closl 
in on the river, especially from the south, until it seems as if the 
stream would be blocked, but on close approach it is apparent that 
the water has cut a narrow passage through what appears to be a 
barrier across its path. The railway is crowded close to the bank 
of the river, and west of milepost 223 hillside cuts show that the 
constriction of the valley is due to a thick bed of coarse sandstone 
(Eagle) which crosses the river nearly at right angles and dips 15° 
or 20° to the east. Immediately west of this outcrop the railway 
crosses Yellowstone River to the broad flat upon which the town of 
Billings is situated. As the train enters the yards just west of the 
river the Eagle sandstone can be seen on both sides of the valley, 

| 





reclamation act, and full particulars may | acreage has been put into beets each 
be obtained at Huntley from the project | year. ° 
manager. The cost of the water right is Probably no section in the West has 
$30 an acre, payable in 20 annual install- | experienced the freedom from speculators | 
ments without interest, and there is an | enjoyed by the area under the Huntley 
additional charge of $4 an acre for theland. | project. As a result, this is to-day one of 
The climate is healthful and the soil | the most prosperous and up to date com- 
fertile, producing abundant crops when | munities in the Northwest. Its progres: 
watered. Cereals and alfalfa are the | sive spirit is shown by its centralized 
principal crops, but the growing of sugar | graded schools, its churches, the steady 
beets is becoming profitable. There is a | substantial growth of its towns, and its 
sugar factory at Billings, and an increased | clubs and cooperative organizations. 





THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 81 


On the south side it forms a prominent cliff and on the north it swings 
to the west and borders the valley with a precipitous wall. 

Billings, a division terminal, is the most important city in the 
eastern half of the State. It was named in honor of Frederick Bil- 

a lings, one of the early presidents of the Northern 
Billings. Pacific Railway Co. For a long time it was the great- 
Be ctle Ade est wool-shipping point in the United States, if not 
St. Paul 392 miles. | In the world, but in recent years much of the wool 

from the north has been diverted by the St. Paul 
road and the dry-land farmers have taken up so much of the open 
range that the raising of sheep has been greatly reduced and is likely 
to become one of the vanishing industries of this region. 

The earliest authentic record of exploration in the vicinity of 
Billings is that of Capt. Clark, who on his return from the Pacific 
coast passed the site of the city July 24, 1806. Soon afterward fur 
traders and trappers explored most of the streams of this country in 
search of beavers, and in so doing they frequently passed up and 
down the valley of the Yellowstone, but they left no record except 
possibly their names attached to some of the old trading posts or to 
the streams. The first permanent settlement in this vicinity appears 
to have been made about 1876, when a place called Coulson was 
established as a stage station and steamboat landing. Coulson con- 
tinued to be of importance until the railway was built in 1881-82. 
In 1883 a street railway, the first in Montana, was built connecting 
this town with Billings, then recently established. The new town 
soon outgrew its rival, and to-day Coulson has disappeared. 

Originally the valley outside of the lower land was clothed only 
with sagebrush, and for a number of years after the completion of 
the railway but little farming was done. As the annual rainfall is 
only about 14 inches and the summer season short it was thought 
that even the Hardier grains could not be successfully raised here. 
About 1892 agricultural development started in earnest, ditches were 
dug, and water was taken to the land, and to-day there is no more 
fertile and productive valley in the State than that of the Yellow- 
stone about Billings. Sugar beets are the principal crop, but alfalfa 
and grains are also grown in abundance. Farming is now the main 
occupation of the people about Billings. <A large sugar factory has 
been erected at Billings which manufactures sugar from beets grown 
in many of the irrigated valleys in this part of the State. 

Near milepost 3, west of Billings, the traveler may, if the day is 
clear, catch his first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains, directly ahead, 
nearly 100 miles away. In midsummer the outline of the mountains 
may be faint and scarcely discernible, but early in the summer or m 
the autumn the snow-on their summits should cause them to stand 

95558°—Bull, 611—15——6 | 


82 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


out clear and distinct. If the traveler is fortunate enough to obtain 
such a view, he will understand why, in the early descriptions, they 
were always referred to as the ‘‘Shining Mountains.” The mountains 
that can be seen from this point are the ranges that lie just south of 
Livingston and bound Yellowstone Park on the east. 

At this point also the setting of the valley can be well seen. Bil- 
lings has for a background a high bluff capped by massive sandstone 
or ‘“‘rim rock”’ (Kagle). This can be followed to the east by the eye 
until it dips below water level and then reappears on the south side 
of the river in equal boldness and ruggedness, but instead of follow- 
ing parallel with the valley it strikes due south across country to 
Pryor Creek, the next stream in that direction. Its outcrop is every- 
where marked by an escarpment, and at the last point at which it 
can be seen it makes an abrupt break in the sky line. On the right 
(north) the cliff trends nearly due west, as shown on the map (sheet 
13), but the railway runs toward the southwest and consequently 
departs more and more from the cliff. The rim rock is visible as far 
as milepost 8, but beyond that poimt it is obscured by the edge of 
the terrace on the right. 

The traveler may notice that the river bluffs on the left (south) 
look very different from the rim rock. ‘There are no ledges on these 
bluffs and they are composed of dark shale (Colorado shale), which 
underlies the rim rock. This shale is the lowest and oldest formation 
that has yet been seen on this trip west of Minnesota. 

Near milepost 12 a branch of the Great Northern Railway which 
uses the tracks of the Northern Pacific from Billings to this place 
turns northward, going to Great Falls and Shelby, where it unites 
with the Great Northern main line. 

From Laurel a branch of the Northern Pacific Railway leads to the 
south across the’ Yellowstone and up the valley of Clark Fork to the 
towns of Bridger and Red Lodge. Red Lodge is the) 
largest town in a coal field that supplies most of the 
fuel used by this railway in its mountain divisions, 
from Butte and Helena on the west to Mandan on 
the east.! 


Laurel. 





Elevation 3,311 feet 
Population 806. 
St. Paul 908 miles. 


. 
y 

¢ 
¢ 





States Geological Survey as subbitumi- | 
nous, but this tendency is so slight that. | 
the coal evidently belongs at the top of | 
its class, which is near the dividing line) 


1 The Red Lodge coal field, at the foot 
of the Beartooth Mountains in Carbon 
County, supplies fuel for the railway, for 
the big smelter at Anaconda, and for a 





large domestic trade. 

In quality the Red Lodge coal is dis- 
tinctly below most of the eastern coals 
but compares favorably with many of the 
Rocky Mountain coals. It shows a tend- 
ency to slack on exposure to the weather 
and consequently is classed by the United 


between the bituminous and subbitumi- | 
nous coals, Its heating value ranges irom | 
10,570 to 11,440 British thermal units. 

The field comprises only about 40 | 
square miles, but the number and thick- 
ness of the coal beds compensate in some} 
degree for the small area. According} 


; 







A 


SHEET NO. 13 
108° MONTANA 





N 
Thickness 
in feet 
Quaternary 
1,100 Tertiary(?) 
$00 
600 
Upper 
600 Cretaceous 
: a = \ Ws ~ a 
; Pee hs 
1,300 nor JS No Br 
FOX \ UA 
“bbard CO 773000" wy 8H 
a 2 b. ay ene i 
a -@ on ¢ eg we el 
2 ya’ SP ent Fa 
, Da - ZA? Lk B 
, eh Ss SS a 


Sheet Wo /2 





le dstone eo Qe 
agie san 


00 
es to | inch 


1§ 20Miles 
20 25 30Kilometers 
200 feet : Ra 
MEAN SEA LEVEL 3 
. are shown every 10 miles ras v 
e spaced | mile apart ; c° 
108° 


~ 


ENGRAVED ANDO PRINTED BY THE U.S5.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 





GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 


OF THE 


NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 


From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 


Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
information collected with the assistance of this company 


UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 
David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 


L915 


Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 
lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 
Sheet of that name. 


£146 


BULLETIN 611 

















108%30’ 108° 
EXPLANATION 
Thickness 

in feet 
A Stream deposits (alluvium) Quaternary 
B Sandstone and shale (Lance formation) 1,100 Tertiary (?) 
C Dark shale, marine deposit, (Bearpaw) 500 
D Shale with some sandstone, fresh-water 


deposits (Judith River formation) 600 


FE Shale and sandstone, marine deposits Upper 
(Claggett formation) 600 Cretaceous 


F Sandstone (Kagle) S00| 
Dark shale, marine deposit (Colorado) 1,300 ot 


Sheet No 14 













= ss eae we ( 
@ WS / ao 
. 5 yy ‘Mi 
.. Fe eS O-\ B 
== Cy i acto 
: “ ine a 02 
| ~» le 4s ee 


1 
Scale 500,000 
= Approximately 8 miles to | inch 
\ 5 10 \ 20Miles 


10 5 10 iS 20 25 30Kilometers 
PTO! Lr a cor Co ee Coe a Se See Wee On Sa on CS Pe OS er Ce eee Se eee ee Se eee Ca 


Contour interval 200 feet , () 
ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL a 


a v 
x\ The distances from St. Paul. Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles ae 


The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart ig 


108° 


Mbbard Crna ee 


SHEET NO. 13 
MONTANA 


OD Ree 


ens Coes. Bea he i 
In Sar“ Ww 5 
Wee as oe : C 3 ae 
} ‘ =.8 Cote { {4 , y Je mi 
\\t at a0 NNW ce Ni e nf Kor 
SAP IL ya 
SS are } { Vee sx - oy a 
: SY ony i MS 2 rT. mabe Rey > ay \ 
{ 2 Pps“) ra “) a) )\ J ae 2 a . P] 
Py SC AeA 9) AL i ae ae ; 
Sn Ge Ss yeas Of 
, Nes { \¢ } A lar 


® 
Loe os 
ae Qe 
an 
oe 
Qe 


ENGRAVED AND PRINTED BY THE U.S5.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 83 


The traveler has now passed the axis of the great Pryor Mountain 
anticline, which brings to light the Colorado shale south of Billings, 
and the rocks dip gently and regularly toward the west. Under the 
influence of this westward dip the shale (Colorado) visible in the bluffs 
on the south side of the river soon passes below water level, and the 
cliffs of sandstone (Eagle) on the north begin to approach the rail- 
way. Near milepost 20 the cliff is about 2 
miles distant and consists of three beds of 
sandstone with intervening shale or soft sand- 
stone, as shown in figure 11. As the dip is 
low, only about 10°, the Eagle 
sandstone approaches the 
river slowly, but at milepost 
25 it can be seen in the hills 
on the south side of the river. 
The top of the sandstone passes below water 
level at a siding called Youngs Point, beyond Park City (see 
sheet 14, p. 86), and here about 300 feet of shale and another 
sandstone immediately overlying the Eagle are visible across the 
river. These beds make up the lower part of the Claggett forma- 
tion, which dips gently westward and gradually disappears be- 


Park City. 


Elevation 3,410 feet. 
Population 903.* 
St. Paul 915 miles. 





FIGURE 11.—Eagle sandstone 
north of Park City, Mont. 


neath water level. 


At milepost 32 all the white sandstone has 


passed from view and the hill slopes are comprised of the over- 


lying Judith River formation. 


This 


formation has no decided 





to a section measured in the bluffs on 
the east side of Rock Creek in and be- 
low the town of Red Lodge and in the 
mine workings there is 90 feet of coal in 
beds 3 feet or more in thickness. The 
beds vary greatly in size, being thicker 
near Red Lodge than in any other part of 
the field so far explored, but the quality 
is smewhat better about Bear Creek, in 
the eastern part. 

These coal beds (in the Fort Union for- 
mation) are made up of the same sort of 
vegetation as the great lignite beds of 
North Dakota, but being nearer to the 
mountains the coal is of much better qual- 
ity, for the reason given on page 71. The 
coal beds dip from 10° to 20° toward the 
southwest, or into the mountain, which is 
separated from the coal field by an im- 
mense fault. 

Although mining at Red Lodge was be- 
gun before 1882, it was conducted on a 
small scale until 1889, when railway con- 
ction was established and some large 






mines opened. Since then the field has 
been developed steadily until now it is 
first in point of production in the State. 
The coal production of Carbon County, 
which includes the Red Lodge field, in 
1913 amounted to 1,304,524 short tons. 

It is estimated that the amount of coal 
in the Red Lodge field before mining be- 
gan was 1,691,800,000 short tons. If from 
this is deducted 12,544,796 short tons, the 
total amount mined to the end of 1913 (the 
latest statistics yet compiled), and about 
4,000,000 tons that was rendered unavail- 
able through mining operations, there 
would still remain about 1,675,000,000 
short tons. Not all of this can be regarded 
as minable, for in mining some coal is 
almost always left in the ground or ren- 
dered unavailable on account of breaking 
down of the roof. According to present 
practice only from 60 to 80 per cent of 
the coal in the ground is mined, but as 
methods improve more and more of the 
coal will become available. 


84 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. . 
characteristics by which it may be recognized and identified, but it 
contains fewer beds of sandstone, and consequently makes smoothes 
hill slopes than the underlying Claggett formation. The slopes com= 
posed of the Judith River formation have a whitish-gray tint and are 
rather monotonous in color and appearance. The rocks composing 
the upper part of this formation are well exposed in Countrymans 
Bluff, between mileposts 37 and 38. Here the rocks are undoubtedly 
of fresh-water origin, as they contain numerous fragments of fossil 
plants such as nati have been deposited only either on land or in 
bodies of fresh water. f 
The continued westward dip of the rocks brings the next higher 
formation (Bearpaw shale) to water level in the vicinity of Columbus, 
It can not be seen near the railway, but is well exposed 

Columbus. a mile north of the town. This shale crops out in the 
Blevation 3,624 feet. valley of Keyser Creek north of the railway and along 
Cooee ts nies, the foot of the ridge that begins just across the river 
from Columbus and extends southeastward as far as 





















Tm ees > UNion ESE, SS Terry : 
Y ff y Witty mel a VON a rr 
7 Uf 7, HM MUL EET | 


ndesitic beds, / 
CE FORMAT) : 
GY  pirurayuite cexre vs OV CO er ee ; 


Wii 
Bi eee; 7 Sha a= = = 


LT 


FIGURE 12.—Cross section to illustrate the change in the formations between Terry and Livingston, ; 
Mont. 
























































Ul YL 11101 eieth fiver formation — == frerre shale= ¢ 
eee eee —— 
LLL YW (iid ys Claggett formation —— = 

















the eye cansee. This ridge is composed of beds of light-colored sand- 


been opened a mile north of Columbus, which furnishes a building 
stone of great excellence. This stone has been used in the construe 
tion of buildings in the neighboring towns and in the State capitol at 
Helena. , 

These sandstones cap Bensons Bluff, 24 miles west of Columbus, 
and come down to water level near milepost 43. The dips here are 6° 
to 8° to the west, but they flatten within a short distance and the 
rocks are practically horizontal. : 

The traveler may remember that at Terry he saw a wedge of som= 
ber-colored shale and sandstone immediately overlying the Lance and 
that the dark color of this wedge is due to the presence of voleani¢ 
material, which was washed far to the east from its place of origin 
somewhere near the Yellowstone Park. The relation of this wedge 
of volcanic material to the adjacent formations is shown in figure 12 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 85 


The train is now approaching the place of origin of this material. 
The gray sandstone of the Lance forms most of the slopes at milepost 
50, just beyond Merrill, and about 300 feet above the river the hills 
have a brownish appearance which indicates that some other forma- 
tion makes their upper slopes. After crossing the river the same rela- 
tions may be observed, except that as the train moves westward the 
brown Lebo shale can be seen at lower and lower levels, owing to the 
sheht westward dip of the rocks. , 

At Reed Point the white beds of the Lance extend up the slopes 
only 100 to 150 feet, and above that all the rocks are brown. The 
Lance probably goes under river level near milepost 
60, and beyond that point the hillsides are much 
eo smoother and the general tone of the rocks is brown, 

ase 3 ' indicating that the Lebo shale forms the hills at 
least for a height of 800 or 1,000 feet. 

About three-fourths of a mile beyond milepost 63 a large dike, 
visible on the right (north), cuts directly through the bedded rocks 
in a direction nearly parallel with the railway. The dike is composed 
of a dark igneous rock which was injected in a melted condition into 
an extensive crack in the bedded rocks. It stands up like a wall, and 
where it cuts across a bed of light-colored sandstone it is easily 
recognized. 

As the train rounds the curve at milepost 66, the traveler looking 
forward and to the right can get his first good view of the Crazy 
Mountains (originally called Crazy Woman Mountains). This 
mountain group stands by itself in the plains and contains the first 
high peaks which the traveler can see at close range. Its mode of 
origin is described in the footnote beginning on page 86. 

East of this place the volcanic material of the Lebo shale has been 
so thoroughly washed and sorted by water that it is evenly bedded 
like ordinary shale and friable sandstone, but near the mountains and 
the source of supply this material is coarser and some of it has the ap- 
pearance of being only a little modified by water after it was blown out 


Reed Point. 


of some old volcanic vent in the vicinity. Such material, known as 


volcanic agglomerate, is composed of fragments of lava ranging from 


minute pieces to blocks 4 feet in diameter. The agglomerate beds 


have in general a warm gray tint, and a mass of such material gave 
the name of Greycliff to a siding that was formerly located under the 
cliff but now has been moved 3 miles to the west. The cliff is fully 


100 feet high, but the base of the agglomerate is not exposed and 
hence its full thickness may greatly exceed that amount. As it Is 


reported to be 2,000 feet thick a few miles to the southwest, 1t seems 


reasonably certain that the old volcano which furnished the material 
was located in that direction, but no trace of it has been discovered. 


GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


86 


At Greycliff an upland stretching far to the north is visible across 
the river on the right. This is underlain by light-colored sandstones 
of the Fort Union formation, which show here and 
there, giving to the surface a light-gray appearance. 
As these rocks dip slightly westward, they should ap- 
pear near railway level east of Big Timber, but no 
such rocks occur near the track. This is due to the fact that on ap- 
proaching Yellowstone Park more and more of the volcanic material 
is present in the sandstones, giving to them a dark color that makes 


Greycliff. 


Elevation 3,940 feet. 
St. Paul 963 miles. 


them indistinguishable from the underlying Lebo.' 
After passing Big Timber the traveler obtains on the right (north) 
his best view of the Crazy Mountains,” an isolated 


Big Timber. 


Elevaticn 4,095 feet. 
Population 1,022. 
St. Paul 974 miles. 


railway. 


group of sawtoothed peaks which rise sharply to a 
height of 6,000 feet above the generally even surface 
of the plain and 7,000 feet above the level of the 


Springdale (see sheet 15, p. 98) is the stopping place for those going 
to Hunters Hot Springs, which are visible on the right at a distance 


of about 14 miles. 
Springdale. 


Elevation 4,234 feet. 
St. Paul 989 miles. 


the white man. 


These springs are reported to have’ 
been well known to the Indians before the advent of 
They were discovered in 1864 by 
Dr. J. A. Hunter, who, with his family, was on his’ 


way to the newly discovered gold fields of Montana. The springs 





1The change in character of the ma- 
terials composing the Fort Union may 
not be apparent from the train, but north 
of the Crazy Mountains, on Musselshell 
River, all the formations from the Colo- 
rado shale (the shale that is exposed 
across the river from Billings) to the Fort 
Union change toward the west to an an- 
desitic mass in which formations are not 
distinguishable. This mass is generally 
known as the Livingston formation, and 
when it was named it was supposed to be 
younger than any formation so far de- 
scribed and to rest unconformably on all 
the older formations up to and including 
the Fort Union. This idea was based on 
its supposed relation to the other forma- 
tions about Livingston and to the fact 
that the fossil plants which it carries are 
different from those in the Fort Union 
and also in the underlying formations. 
The anomalous character of the fossil flora 
has not yet been explained, but the ap- 
parent merging of the formations into one 
great mass of andesitic material toward 
the west is so apparent that it is now 


| generally regarded as established that the 


Livingston is not a separate formation, — 
but a peculiar near-shore phase of the 
other formations, produced by a great 
supply of volcanic material from an up 
land on the south. 4 

2'The Crazy Mountains can not in any 
sense be considered as a range, for in” 
form they are merely a group of peaks and 
in structure they are unlike any other 
range in this part of the country. The 
highest point, Crazy Peak, has an altitude 
of 11,178 feet, or about 6,000 feet above 
the general level of the plateau or benc 
land at its foot. The Crazy Mountains 
are therefore higher than many of the 
more noted mountains of Montana, and_ 
they are certainly more conspicuous on 
account of their compactness and isola- 
tion. 

Structurally they have no relation to 
the ranges of the Rocky Mountains, for 
those ranges in general are formed of 
upturned or faulted strata, whereas the 
Crazy Mountains are merely the remains 
of a great irregular mass, called a stock, 













SHEET No. 14 
MONTANA 


pe NA, 


EXPLANATION 


in feet 


Thickness | 
Stream deposits (alluvium) Quaternary 


| 
White sandstone and shale (wpper part of Fort Union 
formation) 
1,000 


White sandstone and shale (middle part of Fort Union 
formation) - é 


Dark shale and sandstone composed largely of voleanic 
materials (Lebo shale member of the Fort Union 
formation) including volcanic agglomerate (C) 1,500 


Sandstone and shale (Lance formation) 1,600 Tertiary(?) 
Dark shale, marine deposit (Bearpaw). 900 AG é 


Shale and sandstone, fresh-water deposits 
(Judith River formation) 600 


Sandstone and shale, marine deposits (Claggett formation) 600 eerie 
Sandstone and shale, with coal beds (Eagle sandstone) 200 

Dark shale, marine deposit (Colorado) 1,300 

Formations C, D, F, G, H, and'I change toward the west into dark volcanic 


materials and near the western border of this area are grouped into the 
Livingston formation 


Sheet No. 43 





BY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 





GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 


OF THE 


NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 


From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 


Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
information collected with the assistance of this company 


UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 
David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 


Lao 


Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 
lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 
Sheet of that name. 


Sheet No./5 


BULLETIN 611 | : ____ SHEET No. 
; | ae eo MONTANA 

























109° 


EXPLANATION 











Thickness 
in feet 
tream deposits (alluvium) Quaternary 
B White sandstone and shale (upper part of Fort Union 
z formation) | 1,000 
C White sandstone and shale (middle part of Fort Union z 
formation) Tertiary 
D Dark shale and sandstone composed largely of volcanic 
materials (Lebo shale member of the Fort Union 
formation) including voleanic agglomerate (C) 1,500 
F Sandstone and shale (Lance formation) 1,600 Tertiary(7?) 
6 
zh G Dark shale, marine deposit (Bearpaw). 900 


H Shale and sandstone, fresh-water deposits 

(Judith River formation) 600 
Upper 
Sandstone and shale, marine deposits (Claggett formation) 600 Cretaceous 


Sandstone and shale, with coal beds (Eagle sandstone) 200 
Dark shale, marine deposit (Colorado) 1,300 
Formations ©, D, F, G, H, and‘I change toward the west into dark volcanic 


materiais and near the western border of this area are grouped into the 
Livingsion formation 


Sheet No. /3 





f 









> ¢ ~\> OG 
LU PS CREE SNe 1X j 
s = a : ’ a f 
* vies ») _ See . ee { 
/ F ) we me VU } 





4 
Scale 500,000 
Approximately 8 miles to | inch 


{ ? 5 10 P \6 20Miles 


lie (@, 5 iO 15 20 25 30Kilometers 
Cre Ger ere el Ee Eee Ee ee Ee See ane Ga eee ee ee ere 


Contour interva! 200 feet 
ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 


The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every JO miles 


The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 





110° 7 -109°a0 suas y a 





ENGRAVED AND PRINTED GY THE U.S.GECLOGICAL SURVEY 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTER. 


87 


discharge 90,000 gallons of water an hour at a temperature of 148° 
to 168° F. 

Beyond Springdale the river passes through a narrow gorge known 
as McAdows Canyon. In this canyon the rocks, which are well 
exposed, show many wrinkles or minor folds that were undoubtedly 
formed by the upheaval of the great Absaroka Range, on the south. 
The mountain range is high and rugged, indicating a youthful stage 
in its development, for if the range were old it would have been worn 
down by erosion and its rugged features would have been smoothed 
and rounded off. Another proof that the Absaroka Range has been 
recently formed is found in the fact that the rocks along its flanks 
have been wrinkled and upturned by the same forces as those that 
folded and raised the mountain rocks into their present positions. 
From this it is evident that the mountains must have been formed 
since the deposition of the youngest of the plains rocks, and as the 
Fort Union formation, which is early Tertiary, is involved in the fold- 
ing, the mountains must have been formed in middle or late Tertiary 
time. 

On the right (north) near milepost 103 a near-by view may be 
obtained of the Sheep Cliffs, which, as seen from the train, are very 
prominent. They are the result of an intrusion of molten lava 
between beds of sedimentary rocks, probably from some of the dikes 





of igneous rock that was forced in molten 
condition into the soft shale and sand- 
stone of the upper Mesozoic and lower 
Tertiary formation. At the time this 
great mass of igneous material pushed 
into the soft sedimentary beds, the surface 
must have been above the present top 
of the mountains. J. P. Iddings, who has 
given the most study to this mountain 
mass, says that it is not at all certain that 
the molten material ever poured over or 
even reached the surface. It is exposed 
to view now because the beds that once 
covered it have gradually been washed 
away by rain and streams. 

The stock is 4 miles wide and 6 miles 
long. It consists of a very coarse grained 
diorite which disintegrates rapidly when 
exposed to the weather. In this con- 
dition it is easily eroded, and the slopes 
are very steep, as can be seen from the 
train. The present mountains are made 
up not only of the igneous reck, but also 
of the shale and sandstone into which it 
was forced. These rocks were heated so 
Intensely that the shale has been baked 
into a porcelain-like mass that is very 


hard and resists weathering much more 
successfully than the duiorite. These 
baked rocks form a zone nearly a mile 
wide around the core. Through this zone 
and beyond it the rocks have been cut 
and hardened by a countless number of 
dikes that radiate from the central mass 
in all directions. Here and there the 
molten matter has found an outlet be- 
tween the beds of sandstone, resulting in 
great sheets or sills of the hardened lava. 
These are very dense and serve as pro- 
tecting caps to the softer strata beneath. 
The forcing of so much material between 
the layers of the sedimentary rocks has 
raised them up around the stock until 
they dip from it in all directions. 

Nearly the last stage in the evolution of 
this group of mountains is the sculptur- 
ing they have received from local gla- 
ciers during the Great Ice Age. These 
were so small that they did not even 
coalesce and form an ice cap, but each 
little glacier scoured out the valley in 
which it lay and built a moraine at its 
cuter end, where it came down nearly to 
the level of the bench land. 


88 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


connected with the core of the Crazy Mountains. When this sheet of 
igneous material was forced in between the beds they were in all 
probability deep in the earth, but the cutting of the streams has 
revealed the igneous rock, and owing to its superior hardness it stands 
up almost like a mountain. 

West of milepost 105 a glimpse can be obtained on the right, ahead, 
of the highest part of the Bridger Range, which, though small, has a 
very sharp crest and which separates the valley of the Yellowstone 
from the headwaters of Missouri River on the west. The structure 
and character of this range are illustrated by figure 17 (p. 98). 

At Mission station a branch leaves the main line and after crossing 
Yellowstone River follows up Shields River, so named by Capt. Clark 
for a member of his party. This valley has the reputation of pro- 
ducing some of the finest oats grown in the State. 

Just before the train enters Livingston it crosses Yellowstone River 
for the last time on the main line. Here the Yellowstone is a clear, 
rushing mountain stream, very different from the turbid river farther 
east. The traveler now comes face to face with the great mountain 
wall that forms the north front of the Absarokas and can look up at 
the commanding heights, which tower nearly a mile above him and 
which during much of the year are covered with snow. 

Livingston, originally called Clarks City, was named in honor of 
Charles Livingston, of New York, one of the directors of the Northern 

Pacific Railway. The main line of the road was fin- 
Livingston. ished to this place on January 15, 1883, and the 
Elevation 4,510 feet. branch line to Yellowstone Park, which now carries 
a art tondate many thousands of tourists annually, began operation. 

in August of the same year. Livingston is a division 
terminal and essentially a railway town. 


[The description of the route west of Livingston begins on page 94.] 
LIVINGSTON TO GARDINER (YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK). 


The train for Yellowstone Park, on leaving Livingston, turns to 
the left (south) and heads directly for the mountains, through a wide 
bottom which, though composed largely of gravel brought down by 
the river, is mostly under a high state of cultivation. For some dis-_ 
tance the rocks are not well exposed, as the railway is built on alluvial — 
material (material laid down by running water) and the rocks can be | 
seen only in the cut edge of a low terrace on the right (west). The 
formations are upturned against the mountains at an angle of about. 
20°, and as the railway runs at right angles to their upturned edges 
the train passes them in quick succession. 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE, 89 


The main outer range which forms the gateway through which the 
train enters the mountains is composed of very old (Paleozoic) rocks, 
chiefly limestone, shale, and quartzite.’ 

The great mountain mass beyond this outer range is anticlinal in 
structure; that is, it once formed an immense arch. The top of the 
arch is eroded and the traveler can not see the formations rising on 
one side of the fold, curving over the top, and descending on the 
other side, but they once formed such an arch, and the flanks and 





1 The smooth slopes of the terrace on the 
west are composed of the Eagle sandstone, 
which is not well exposed and probably 
not recognizable from the train, and the 
underlying dark shale of the Colorado, 
which is well exposed south of Billings. 
The relation of the various beds can be 
better understood by consulting figure 
13, which shows the rocks as the traveler 
sees them on the right. Opposite mile- 
post 3 are sandstone and red shale, which 
underlie the dark shale of the Colorado. 





The next formation to attract attention 
consists of a great mass of limestone, which 
makes the mountain front and which is 
one of the most conspicuous sedimentary 
formations in the Rocky Mountain region. 
It will be seen many times on the trip and 
the traveler will doubtless learn to recog- 
nize it wherever seen. This thick-bedded 
formation is of early Carboniferous age and 
is known as the Madison limestone. It 
makes the front of the mountain on the 
east side of the river as far as the eye can 


These beds constitute one of the most re- | see and on the west side for a distance of 


oo =~ 
ee ee 1a) Sa 
~ 


=o. 
ree 


ee 


RAILROAD Peres 








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N <“ < SEONG REESE RSS SENSES 
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y NASSSSS me LASS Oe CIOS KS LES 
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ae SAN nee RS SENSE SERS SS 
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erty, eT NC 


FIGURE 13.—Cross section showing the rim of the mountains south of Livingston, Mont. ‘The rocks were 
crowded together until they bent into great folds, which later broke, resulting in overthrust faults. 


sistant formations of the plains and on the 

Je of the river they make a hogback 
ridg \ rhich is a fine example of its kind. 
This formation was at one time regarded 
asthe Dakota sandstone, but isnow known 


to be the Kootenai, of Lower Cretaceous 


age. It is the same formation as that 
carrying the coal beds at Sand Coulee and 
Belt, southeast of Great Falls, but in the 
vicinity of Livingston no coal has yet 
been found in it. Below the Kootenai 
there are shale and limestone containing 
fossil sea shells of Jurassic age. 


7 or 8 miles. Its base can be seen about 
4% miles south of Livingston, or just 
opposite the county bridge across the 
river. Beneath the Madison is a great 
mass of shale, limestone, and quartz- 
ite embracing formations of Devonian, 
Silurian, and Cambrian age, but as 
these various formations can not be 
distinguished from the train they will 
not be described in detail. Some of 
these are very old rocks, even older 
than the St. Peter sandstone, which was 
seen at St. Paul. 


90 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


core of it still remain to tell the story to the geologist. There are on 
the flanks of the large fold a number of small folds, and the rocks 
that have just been described constitute such a wrinkle. This 
minor fold, as shown in the section (fig. 13), has been pushed over 
toward the south beyond the vertical, so that the beds on the south 
side dip toward the anticline instead of away from it, as they would 
had they not been overturned. This fold is bounded on the south 

by a fault (a break in the rocks), and near Brisbin it 
Brisbin. is succeeded by a smaller fold of the same type. The 
elninaha ey itiees Madison limestone making the core of this smaller 

' ' fold forms the high, straight ridge or spur that 
trends at right angles to the railway. Beyond this ridge there are 
traces of another kind of fold—a trough or syncline which lies at the 
base of the limestone ridge and extends far to the northwest where 
it contains the Trail Creek coal field. Coalis being mined from Cre- 
taceous rocks in this syncline at the present time, but the product 
of the mines reaches the railway on the other side of Bozeman Pass. 

Beyond Brisbin the rocks on the west forming the Gallatin Range 
are made up of volcanic materials, some of which consist of fine frag- 
ment (tuffs) blown out of some crater with explosive violence or of 
coarse angular blocks derived from the same source or from the 
breaking up of partly cooled lava flows. 

The rocks on the east side of the valley from Deep Creek, opposite 
Brisbin, on the north to Mill Creek on the south are very ancient 
eneiss and schist. This great mass of crystalline rock constitutes the 
central part of the large anticline already described, from which all 
the younger sedimentary formations have been removed by erosion. - 
Traces of the sandstones and limestones that once constituted the 
south flank of the fold are to be found up Mill Creek, but they are- 
so badly faulted and covered with volcanic breccia (rock composed 
of angular fragments) that they can not be easily recognized from” 
the train. The most prominent peak in this part of the valley is” 
Mount Cowen, which has an altitude of 11,190 feet and stands 6,400° 
feet above the bottom of the valley. 

As far as milepost 16 the railway is on the flat surface of a terrace 
50 to 75 feet above river level. This was formed by the glaciers that, 
long ago, came down Yellowstone and Mill Creek 
valleys and joined near the village of Chicory. The 
streams flowing from the melting ice carried large 
quantities of gravel and sand and dropped them in 
the open valley, filling it to a considerable depth. Since the ice 
melted away the river has cut a deep channel in this filling, leavin 
remnants of it here and there in the form of terraces. As the terrace 
was built only below the limit of the glacier, the railway is forced, 














Chicory. 


Elevation 4,872 feet. 
St. Paul 1,028 miles. 


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AX Aalvid [LO NILATING AZAYNS 1WOIDO103D “Ss 'N 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTER. Q] 


opposite the mouth of Mill Creek, to leave the terrace and descend 
to the valley bottom on which lay the great mass of ice. 

In the vicinity of Emigrant there is a thin sheet of basalt (a dark 
massive volcanic rock) capping the terrace on the right. This rock 

exhibits the vertical columnar structure common to 
Emigrant. such material, and it is probable that the several 
oe 4,887 feet. masses of basalt which can be seen up the canyon are 

. Paul 1,031 miles. RY 

parts of one lava flow that originated somewhere in 
the park and extended down the valley as far as this place. It can 
be followed on the right for 3 miles, but beyond that it has been eroded 
for some distance, leaving no trace of its presence. 

In the vicinity of Emigrant the most prominent topographic fea- 
ture is Emigrant Peak (Pl. XIV), which dominates the entire valley. 
From the train this appears to be an isolated mountain, but the map 
shows that it is merely a prominent spur projecting from the moun- 
tain mass. The peak has an altitude of 10,960 feet, and its summit 
stands 6,000 feet above the valley. The base of the peak is composed 
of old gneiss, a rock which the traveler will have a good chance to 
see at close range farther up the canyon, and its summit of the 
andesitic breccia and lava flows that at one time probably almost 
engulfed the range on the east and completely submerged that on the 
west. At milepost 24 the high, sharp summits of the Gallatin Range 
show on the right (west), but they are neither so rugged nor so im- 
posing as the peaks on the east. 

The sheet of basalt capping the terrace on the right in the vicinity 
of Emigrant disappears for a mile or more, but opposite milepost 28 
it reappears on the other side of the river, capping a finely developed 
terrace at a height of about 150 feet above the river. 

_ At Daileys, a little farther on, a complete section of the rocks 
forming the terrace can be seen, and these rocks record an entirely 
: new chapter in the geologic history of this region. 
Daileys. They consist of white marl and conglomerate over- 
Elevation 4,941 feet. Jain by dark gravel and the whole covered with the 
St. Paul 1,039 miles. 

sheet of basalt that was poured out upon the surface 
as molten lava. The white materials are known, from their compo- 
sition and the fossils they contain, to have been deposited in a lake 
or lakes in Miocene or Pliocene time. A brief description of these 
lake beds is given on page 113. 

The sheet of basalt capping the terrace can be followed as far as 
milepost 33, but from that point nearly to the entrance to the park 
the terrace and the basalt are not present. At Point of Rocks, only 
a short distance farther on, the traveler can obtain a good idea of the 
kind of material composing a volcanic breccia, for the railway cuts 
through a projecting point of the breccia and it can be seen at close 


92 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


range. Here it is tinted a deep, rich red, which adds a warmth and 
beauty to the otherwise somber mountain slope. 

At Miner the river valley makes an abrupt bend to the southeast 
and the rocks on the right show clearly the smoothing action of the 
glacier that once passed over them. Each project- 
ing mass of rock has been rounded and smoothed, 
especially on the upriver side, which the glacier 
struck first in its course down the valley. 

A short distance above Miner the stream passes through a narrow 
rugged canyon, the walls of which are composed of gneiss and show 
clearly the intricate folds into which this rock has been bent and the 
character of the different layers composing it. Through most of this 
canyon the tracks are on the very brink of the river channel, and the 
traveler can look down on the left into the boiling flood which dashes 
and foams about the bowlders that have fallen into it from the rocky 
slopes above. The grade through this canyon is very steep, but the 
gorge is short and the slope of the valley beyond is more gentle. 

At Corwin Springs is a hotel for the accommodation of those 
who wish to use the hot waters. Above this place Cinnabar Moun- 

tain, on the west, is the most conspicuous object, 
Corwin Springs. byt the wonderful structure of the mountaim and 
Elevation 5,133 feet. its peculiar appearance can not be fully appreciated 
St. Paul 1,055 miles. : : : 

until the traveler reaches Electric. Cinnabar Moun- 
tain was named in the early days, when the bright-red streak that 
marks it from top to bottom was supposed to be due to the mineral 
cinnabar, a red ore of mercury. It is now known that this red 
streak, called the Devil’s Slide, is a bed of shale and that there is 
no cinnabar in the mountain. Almost the entire geologic column 
of this part of Montana is here exposed, and the rocks are turned 
up on edge so that they can be studied without the exertion of 
making a difficult chmb. The oldest rocks are seen first, as one 
aseunde the valley, and then others come in orderly succession, 
ranging from Cambrian to Upper Cretaceous. 


Miner. 


Elevation 5,021 feet. 
St. Paul 1,045 miles. 


i 








‘The geologic section exposed at geeks: if Minced in its correct position, woul , 


be as follows: Weel 
Montana formation (Upper Cretaceous)...........- Ay avn bb Ce 955 
Colorado shale (Upper Cretaceous). =<. .2..2. .- 225 eee 2,770 
Kootenai formation (Lower Cretaceous)....................------ 577 
Morrison formation (Jurassic or Cretaceous)................------- 185 
Ellis formation. urassic) 2.3) sod. 2c sce oe eee ae. oe 277 
Quadrant formation (Carboniferous).......<+----.-...0. 02s seeee 200 
Madison limestone (Carboniferous)...........0...2.. 20-0 eee 1, 500 
Threeforks shale (Devonian)... 74. 2c. ...s ss.) Stee 240 
Jefferson limestone (Devonian). 2202 100. 3.0 de eee oe 200 
Cambrian .cés .iesce fd. da alts eae. sets. Sek Jee ee ~ 700 








THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTER. 93 


The town of Electric was established and extensive coal mines 
were opened at this place a number of years ago by the Montana 
Coal & Coke Co. Some of the mines were opened 
directly back of the town and some near the town 
but on the other side of the mountain, and the 
coal was brought to the tipple by an aerial tramway. 
The coal is of excellent quality, apparently having been improved 
by the heat of igneous intrusions or by the intense pressures devel- 
oped when the rocks were thrown into the great folds that are so 
apparent to-day, but the cost and difficulties of mining caused the 
undertaking to be abandoned.' 

At Electric station Electric Peak (elevation 11,000 feet), one of 
the highest mountains in the vicinity, may be seen on the right. The 
peak was so named because of a severe electric storm during its 
ascent by members of the Hayden Survey in 1872. One of the men 
was severely shocked, and all the others experienced prickly sensa- 
tions as if they were receiving the discharge from an electric machine. 


Electric. 


Elevation 5.185 feet. 
St. Paul 1,057 miles. 


The station and coal field took their names from the mountain. 





1 The coal beds in this field are prob- 
ably the same as those mined in the 
Trail Creek field and at Bridger, near 
Red Lodge, and formerly mined exten- 
sively at Cokedale, west of Livingston, 
but the coal of the Electric field is 
probably the best in Montana. The coal 
beds occur near the base of the Montana 
formation, probably in the Eagle sand- 









sills of igneous rocks as to be scarcely 
identifiable. As shown by the map 
(sheet 15) and the section (fig. 14), the 
rocks are nearly flat in the southern part 
of the block, but are sharply upturned at 
the north end, forming Cinnabar Moun- 
tain. The great block of strata consti- 
tuting the coal field is bounded on all 
sides by faults, and within this block 


\ Devils Slide 


FIGURE 14.—Diagram showing the structure of Cinnabar Mountain, Mont. 


stone. The coal field consists of a great 
block of the earth’s crust, containing not 
only the Cretaceous coal-bearing rocks 
but also all the older formations known 
in the region. This block of strata 
extends from Cinnabar Mountain (Yel- 
lowstone River) on the north to Electric 
Peak on the south, but in the south end 
the formation is so altered by dikes and 


another and small block has been broken 
from the larger mass and dropped about 
1,000 feet. The smaller block contains 
the coal mine directly back of the 
town of Electric. Practicaliy all the 
coal mined in this field was coked, the 
market being chiefly the smelters at 
Butte and Anaconda. The heating value 
of the coal is 12,270 British thermal units. 


94 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


Above Electric bowlders of dark basalt and the outcropping edge 
of a sheet of similar material on the far side of the river indicate that 
a stream of basaltic lava once flowed down the river valley at least 
as far as Emigrant. Since it solidified the river has cut most of it 
away, leaving the two or three remnants noted. 

At Gardiner the traveler has arrived at the northern entrance to 

Yellowstone Park. Descriptions of the park and the 
Gardiner. principal routes through it are given in other Govern- 
Elevation 5,287 feet. ment and private publications. The railroad route 
cr Paatt O62 mites, 0 Yellowstone, Mont., the western entrance to the 

park, is described in Survey Bulletin 612 (Guidebook 
of the western United States, Part B). 


MAIN LINE WEST OF LIVINGSTON. 


As the train leaves Livingston for the continuation of the westward 
journey, an excellent view can be obtained on the south of the entrance 
to the valley of the upper Yellowstone, sometimes called the ‘‘gate 
of the mountains.” West of Livingston the railway crosses the 
northern point of the Gallatin Range at Bozeman Pass. This pass 
was discovered by Capt. Clark, who crossed the summit on his return 
journey July 15, 1806. He expressed surprise at the ease with which 
he passed from the Gallatin Valley on the west to that of the Yellow- 
stone on the east. Although this is a low summit and an easy one 
to cross with a wagon or on foot, it offered a considerable obstacle to 
the railway, as it involved a climb from Livingston of 996 feet in 12.2 
miles. Originally the railway followed the creek with an easy grade 
nearly to its head and then reached the summit by a very steep ascent, 
but a few years ago a new roadbed having a regular grade from 
Livingston to the summit at Muir was established. 

The mountain side on the left (south) presents many interesting 
features, especially to one not familiar with mountains. Early in 
the summer light-green grassy slopes interspersed with patches of 
brush or groves of aspen extend partway up the mountain to the forest 
of evergreen trees that thrives upon the upper slopes. At the lower 
margin of the forest the trees appear singly or in groups, but higher up 
they cover the entire surface with their dense foliage. Here and there 
are the marks of old burns in which the tree trunks stand out as 
whitened skeletons that later fall headlong in a hopeless tangle and 
then are concealed by the second growth of trees. Late in the sum- 
mer the lower slopes may be brown, but with the coming of the early 
frosts the woods are bright with color, the soft yellow of the aspens, 
blending with the reds and browns of the scrub maple and the oak. 
The lower limit of the timber, which seems to be fairly definite, is not 


| 


. 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 95 


controlled directly by the altitude but by the greater precipitation 
on the mountain slopes than on the plains below them. 

Along the new grade many exposures of the Livingston formation 
can be seen in the deep cuts. It consists of chocolate-colored shale 
‘and sandstone of a lighter shade but still showing a brownish tinge, 
which is due to the fragments of volcanic matter of which it is com- 
posed. The beds are somewhat wrinkled and disturbed but generally 
dip to the right, away from the mountain, at an angle of about 20°! 

About half a mile beyond milepost 121, in a deep cut, two dikes 
of igneous rock are exposed cutting directly across the bedded sand- 
stone and shale. In places where such dikes have cut through coal 
beds, or have taken the form of a sheet or sill below the coal, as illus- 
trated in figure 15, the heat of the molten rock has changed the 
coal, the resultant material depending upon the conditions attending 











FIGURE 15.—Dike cutting coal bed and sill intruded in a position to affect the quality of the coal. 


the intrusion. If air is present, the coal will burn out completely; 
if only a moderate amount of air is available, natural coke will be 
formed; and if little or no air is present, the coal will be baked into 
anthracite. Anthracite produced in this manner occurs in Colorado, 
New Mexico, and Washington. 

After a long climb the summit is reached at Muir, a station at the 
east end of the Bozeman tunnel, which has a length of 3,610 feet. 
The summit of the pass is only a few hundred feet 
above the level of the railway. Beyond the tunnel 
the Eagle sandstone, which was seen back of Billings 
and again obscurely at Livingston, carries coal beds 
which have been prospected and mined at various places west of 
Livingston. As a general rule the coal crops out along the base of 


Muir. 


Elevation 5,506 feet. 
St. Paul 1,020 miles. 








1 As the rocks dip away from the moun- 
tains, as shown in figure 13 (p. 89), lower 
formations than those exposed in the rail- 
way cuts appear toward the south. These 
lower rocks include the coal-bearing 
formation which crops out in a continuous 
band from Livingston across the summit 
to Chestnut. This formation overlies the 
Colorado shale and is about equivalent to 
the Eagle sandstone which is so prominent 
in the rim rock back of Billings. In most 


places the formation is only 100 feet thick, 
but about Livingston the sandstone with 
its accompanying shale beds is about 
1,000 feet thick. 

Formerly the Cokedale mine, one of the 
most productive in the State, was in oper- 
ation about 7 miles west of Livingston and 
coke was manufactured from part of the 
coal, but the mine has been abandoned 
for a number of years and the railway 
spur leading to it has been removed. 


96 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


the mountain on the south, and the remains of old mines can be 
seen on both sides of the track as far as Chestnut. The coal is of 

good quality, but on account of the heavy percentage 
Chestnut. of ash and the expense of mining, all of these opera- 
Elevation 5,270 feet. tions have ceased. Just east of Chestnut, however, 
ct pant 10et tailes, © branch line turns to the left up Meadow Creek 

and goes southeastward across the summit to the 
Trail Creek field, in which mining is still carried on. 

About a mile pevond Chestnut the railway cuts through the poi 
of a closely folded anticline in which the Madison limestone forms 
the core, as shown in figure 16. (See Pl. XV,p. 91.) The exposures 
are not good enough for the traveler to see all the formations that 
are involved in the fold, but after passing some coal beds he may 
see sandstone with red shale (Kootenai, Lower Cretaceous), and then 
on his right hand a broad band-of the same red shale as that which 
_ produces the Devil’s Slide at Electric. These rocks are standing 
vertical. Next comes the Madison limestone (Carboniferous), which 
is the oldest rock exposed. This 
oN massive limestone is dissolved 
\ and cut by the streams into 
curious towers and pinnacles, 
and by the exercise of his im- 
agination the traveler may see 
resemblances to almost any 
form he desires. West of thi 
maze of sculptured towers and 
FIGURE 16.—Vertical fold in Madison limestone west of crags the rocks that were seen 

pes apian ke on the east side of the fold a 
crossed in reverse order. This fold, although small in comparison 
with those that make up the mountains, may give the traveler some 
idea of the great forces which have crumpled the rocky crust of the 
earth ike paper. No formation is massive enough to resist them. 

At milepost 136 the train emerges from the narrow defile of Rocky 
Canyon and the traveler obtains his first view of the Gallatin Valley. 
On the left between mileposts 137 and 138 are a few old buildings that 
once constituted a part of Fort Ellis, an important military post 
during the Indian wars. This post was established by order of Gen 

Terry in 1867 and abandoned in 1887. A little 
Bozeman. farther on the train arrives at Bozeman, one of the 
Elevation 4,773 feet. oldest and most prosperous agricultural towns in the 
st Paul tom mies, State. Here in the heart of the Rocky Mountains 
) surrounded on all sides and protected by high range: 
is the Gallatin Valley, which is widely known on account of the fine 
farms it contains and the excellent and diversified crops it, produce 
The Montana State Agricultural College, situated at Bozeman, ha 









DISON 


















= 





MA 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 


97 


assisted materially in the prosperity of the region by the introduction 
of scientific methods of farming and of handling the crops. 

It seems rather strange that a part of the State so far removed 
from the regular westward routes of early travel and so walled in by 
the mountains should have been one of the first to be occupied by 
settlers. This was doubtless due to the description of the valley 
given by Capt. Clark, who discovered it in 1806. The first effort of 
the whites to obtain a foothold here was made by fur traders in the 
vicinity of Three Forks, on Missouri River, but that region, like 
Kentucky in the early days, was the common hunting and fighting 
ground of many Indian tribes, and the trading posts were soon 
swept away. 

The first permanent settlement in the valley was made by John M. 
Bozeman, for whom the town was named, and a party of settlers 
whom he led into the valley in 1864. Another pioneer who entered 





























1Of all the men who renounced the 
conventionalities of civilization and 
cast their lot with the fur traders and 
trappers of the West, one of the most 
remarkable was James Bridger. He was 
well known to almost every western 
explorer and settler in the first half of 
the nineteenth century, but there are 
few written records of the man himself 
or of his many wanderings from Mexico 
on the south to the British possessions 
on the north. He was born in March, 
1804. His father, who was a poor tavern 
keeper in Richmond, Va., moved to 
St. Louis in 1812, and so the boy grew 
up in the stirring atmosphere of romance 
and adventure of what was then the very 
edge of the great ‘“‘Wild West.”’ It is 
therefore of little wonder that at the age 
of 18 he joined a party under William 
Ashley to go to the mountains to hunt 
beaver for the Rocky Mountain Fur Co., 
which was organized in 1822 at St. Louis. 
By 1832 he had become a resident partner 
in this company and was generally 
recognized as a leader among the explorers 
and Indian traders of the time. 

In the years from 1822 to 1870 Bridger 
roamed the country from Montana to 
Mexico and from the Rocky Mountains 
to the Pacific coast, but his headquarters 
were at a trading post built by him on 
the Black Fork of Green River, Wyo., 
enerally known as Fort Bridger. It is 


95558°—Bull. 611—15——7 


i 


the same year was James Bridger,’ one of the best-known guides, fur 


said that he was the first white man to 
see Great Salt Lake (in the winter of 
1824-25), but this statement has never 
been fully substantiated. 
Unquestionably Bridger played a most . 
important part in the exploration of the 


West, and his chief claim for recognition 


by posterity will rest upon this service. 
He was probably the best guide in this 
region and his services were sought by 
almost every leader of an exploring 
expedition in the Rocky Mountains. 
Capt. Gunnison says: ‘‘With a buffalo 
hide and a piece of charcoal he will map 
out any portion of this immense region 
and delineate mountains, streams, and 
circular valleys, called ‘holes,’ with 
wonderful accuracy.’”’ His name has 
been perpetuated in many of the natural 
features of the region, but the interesting 
personality of the man is largely lost in 
the hazy distance of a rapidly vanishing 
past. 

Of James Bridger’s last years little is 
known except that on losing his eyesight 
in 1870 he retired to a farm which he had 
previously purchased at Washington, 
Mo., about 5 miles east of Kansas City. 
Here the once eagle-eyed frontiersman 
lived in almost total blindness until his 
death July 17, 1881. Some years ago 
his body was rescued from an unnamed 
grave and a marble shaft was erected 
over his last resting place, 


98 CUTE Oe OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


traders, and scouts of the Rocky Mountain region from 1830 to 1870. 
His visit here is perpetuated by the names Mette! Range, Bridger 
Peak, and Bridger Creek. 

Recently an effort has been made to apply the name Sacajaweal 
Peak to one of the peaks in the Bridger Range, in honor of the Indian 
woman who accompanied Lewis and Clark in their journey to the 
Pacific coast and return and who guided Clark Caer the Bozeman 
Pass. 

The Bridger Range, which is a: conspicuous feature from ihe 
vicinity of Belgrade, consists of the upturned edges (see fig. 17) of 

“thé rocks of the Great Plains and so is really the 

Belgrade. Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. On its east 
Elevation 4,467 feet. side are the Cretaceous and Jurassic formations that 
eee ee inites, Were seen above Livingston, and the crest of the 
3 range is made up of the massive and resistant Madi- 

son and associated limestones of Paleozoic age. On the western. 





FIGURE 17 .—Upturned Madison limestone and associated rock$, forming the Bridger ee Mont., | 
looking north. { 

slope gneiss similar to that seen on the road to Gardiner and argillite 
(hard shale) and sandstone of the Belt series are exposed, but within 
a short. distance these rocks are buried beneath the soft clay and 
sand of the Tertiary lake beds. The Gallatin Valley, like that of the 
Yellowstone and also other intermountain valleys of Montana, at one 
time in the past was occupied by a lake. Into this lake were washed 
clay, sand, and gravel from the surrounding uplands and volcani¢ 
ash blown out from the craters of active volcanoes in the vicinity. 
The ash had the appearance of white dust, being composed of fine 
particles of glassy lava. On account of the abundance of volcanic 
ash the sediments deposited in this lake have a light color, which is 
readily recognized even at a distance of several miles. 1 
At Central Park the railway crosses West Gallatin River and on 
the left is a beautiful rolling upland country, every 

Central Park. acre of which is under good cultivation. This upland 
Elevation 4,324 feet. iS on the lake beds and rises toward the southwest, 
1 Pan! L0t7 mites, With the rise of the beds composing it, to a height of 
at least 500 feet above the railway. Near Manhattan 

(see sheet 16, p. 112) a branch line turns to the left (south) 




















































/¢ 


















AVC SHEET Ne 

1O"30" 2 oD SESTSAINE Ta 
ap aote\ MONTANA 
Tregloan Oe ‘ : y N ra ) a \. y pakie \ 





wf 
ow 


Sheet No, /4 





EXPLANATION 
ae. ~ Thickness 
LE in feet 
A Stream deposits (alluvium ) 
and glacial drift Quaternary 
B White clay and volcanic ash 
(lake beds) x 200 Late Tertiary 
C Dark sandstone and shale,| Early Tertiary 
mainly volcanic material 7,000 -and late Cre- 


(Livingston formation) J taceous 
Y}D Sandstone and shale, with coal 
759) Upper 





_ beds (Kagle sandstone) Grataecous 
Dark shale, (Colorado) 3,700) ss a 
Sandstone and red shale, _* Lower 

E ~ (Kootenai formation) 500 Cretaceous 
Impure limestone and shale ; 
| {Ellis formation) 460 Jurassic 
(Quartzite and impure limestone } 

H (Quadrant formation) 4007 Carboniferous 












assive blue limestone (Madison) 1,500) 
Shale and shaly limestone ) 

‘Threeforks shale) ( 440 Devonian 
K <Dark limestone (Jefferson )) 
Limestone (Gallatin) 
herahee and shale f 885 Cambrian 

(Flathead quartzite); 

L Sandstone, conglomerate, slate, 
and sandy limestone (Relt series ) 5,000 Algonkian 







Lava flows, basalt ' _ Tertiary or later 
Lava flows and intrusive masses, 
mainly andesite Tertiary 
‘.U _ Dikes of various kinds of igneous meal 


422 we 


TIGNAL__ PARK 
a ston) 
Vn ivi 








GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 


OF THE 


NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 


From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 


Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
information collected with the assistance of this company 


UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 
David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 


1915 


Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 
lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 
Sheet of that name. 





Fo ae 
Tregloan \ 

a oN ee} + oy 
Sere 


Px oO 














( \ MEET | 
Belgrade {77 
‘ ze $467~ aa, A 









w 
ow 


Sheet No, /4- 






j } xt 
J se 


























































ZO) hs _. x EXPLANATION 
. Ip Y (OH Emigrant By <i j a i ; 
SWI Q OF if EL. 4887, AN = Ta Thickness 
a> o) eo “dies K-41 in feet 
Sat = “fee A Stream deposits (alluvium) 
| ee ot ae and glacial drift Quaternary 
|B White clay and volcanic ash 
(ake beds) 2 200 Late Tertiary 
C Dark sandstone and shale,| Early Tertiary 
mainly volcanic material 7,000 <and late Cre- 
(Livingston formation) J) taceous 
, D Sandstone and shale, with coal U 
LIL SENT NWS _ beds (Bagie sandstone) 750 pper 
Jee MINN f : Cretaceous 
~ .Miferal Peg shale, (Colorado) 3, 706 
4 — ae YES _ erg pare oe red shale, ae dhe 
ll aN ? (K ormation) 5 retaceous 
Scale 500,000 Si Minter <p WALK Fase Gerad eee shale 
Approximately 8 miles to | inch Lie 4 C7 yess ee CORK \ {Ells formation) 460 Jurassic 
12 5 10 Miles DS) LAP \ Dp ta \ (Quartzite and impure limestone 7 
Sphinx ye vomes H + (Quadrant formation) 400; Carboniferous 


10 5 10 iS 20 Kilometers. ry Be oS SW Hille Massive blue limestone (Madison) 1,500) 
VACA allan Sal Shale and shaly limestone 


‘Threeforks shale) ( 440 Devonian 


Ce Se a a ee ee er es War GC eC Ce 
Contour interval 200 feet 











ww imestone (Jefferson) 
ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL = ; poke Pokege Soe uSrEon ) 
; 3 Pp jLumestone (Gallatin 
had = Ae , ; © hwy 
The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 mile "aber Sale leech te and shale f 8385 -Cambrian 
: @sin kt « (Flathead quartzite)) 
oy" Yh = ~ 
| og Sse Sandstone, conglomerate, slate, 
WAST irre and sandy limestone (Belt series) 5,000 Algonkian 
VMs ASF if Q Lava flows, basalt : ’ _ Tertiary or later 
Hh Dp CS AT Lava flows and intrusive masses, | 
iis Hee We SN I mainly andesite Tertiary 
N DAR Re Sp U , Dikes of various kinds of igneous rocks} —_- 
IOI 18 AAT Sn a EN QNAL__ PARK 






at y pe . “ft \ 


SHE SA ANY VS Wann 2 i 
WN 2 ae WSK) CE Ke Alkimluny Rea NONese 
\ Pes a Pale Sat yh pee MN Ne bm RAS RE Zot 
as Ele rt amy ak Mo rede Sy gt ING SSBC 
ial ie 








o 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 99 


Anceney. The plain continues northwestward almost as far as Logan, 


Sten hattah. and throughout that distance the only rocks which 
Elevation 4,255 feet. 2% exposed are the gravel and sand of the river 
Population 570.* flood plain and the slightly more indurated materials 


St. Paul 1,052 miles. of the old lake beds. 
Near Logan the whole of the Paleozoic succession present in this 
region is exposed across Gallatin River, on the north. The first rocks 
4 to be seen are those of the Belt series (Algonkian), 
Logan. ’ which are so far away that their character can not be 
Elevation 4,114 feet. determined from the train,’ but the traveler, in the 
St Paul 1,057 raites, course of his journey farther west will see this series 
in many places and will have opportunity to study it 
at close range. The rocks across the river near Logan constitute the 
southeastern limb of a great synclinal trough (sce fig. 25, p. 116) and 
therefore dip toward the northwest, or away from the observer. The 
next system above the Algonkian is the Cambrian, which is repre- 
sented by two formations. The lower one (Flathead) is composed 
mostly of shale and sandstone, but includes a layer of massive lime- 
stone through which the railway passes in a deep cut near milepost 
164. The Gallatin limestone, overlying the Flathead formation, 
“makes a prominent bluff across the river which can be seen just as 





FIGURE 18.—Southeast side of the great Synclinal basin north of Logan, Mont., as seen from the station. 


the train enters the yards at Logan. The section as seen from the 
station is represented in figure 18. The Gallatin limestone, at the 
extreme right of the section, is generally light blue or gray and is 
easily distinguishable from the overlying Jefferson limestone (Devo- 
nian), which is dark and more resistant. The Jefferson limestone is 
one of the most conspicuous members of the section, for it is much 
darker than any of the other limestones, and as it lies directly below a 
fairly soft shale it forms a distinct ridge or prominent spurs. It is, 
overlain by the Threeforks shale, which is conspicuous only in that, 
as it is softer than the limestones on either side, it forms valleys or 
ravines. Overlying the shale is the massive bluish-gray Madison lime- 
stone, which forms the bluff opposite the station and extends westward 
on both lines of the railway for a distance of at least half a mile. 

From Logan to Garrison the Northern Pacific has two lines, the 
original line turning to the right and running by way of Helena and 
the other keeping to the left by way of Butte. A description of the 
Helena line begins on page 116. 





100 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


LOGAN TO GARRISON BY WAY OF BUTTE. 


West of the station at Logan a few outcrops of Madison limestone 
occur near the track, but these are soon passed; and then the only 
surface features visible from the train are the broad flood plain of 
Gallatin River on the north-and a bluff composed of Tertiary lake 
beds on the south. The character and composition of these beds and 
also of similar beds found in most of the other broad valleys of the 
mountain region are well shown by the bluffs on the east side of the 
valley of Madison River and can be seen by looking back after passing 
milepost 3. Here the material is largely sand and the lower layers 
exposed along the terrace front are hardened into real sandstone. The 
coarse sand above is less coherent and is being used in the manufac- 
ture of cement blocks. Farther south the sandstone is limited to the 
upper part of the terrace, and all the material below consists of white 
volcanic ash. 

At milepost 5 the railway crosses Madison River.’ On the right 
(north) is the thriving town of Threeforks, situated near and named 


from the three forks of the Missouri. 
first visited in 1805 by Lewis and Clark,? who named 
the easternmost branch for Albert Gallatin, Secretary 
of the Treasury; the middle branch for James Madi- 


Threeforks. 


Elevation 4,081 feet. 
Population 674. 
St. Paul 1,063 miles. 


This place was 


son, Secretary of State; and the largest and western- 





| Fifty miles to the south Madison River 
cuts through gneiss in a narrow, rocky 
canyon. Here the river has been dammed 
and two hydroelectric plants installed, 
which develop about 15,000 horsepower 
and supply current to the cities of Butte, 
Bozeman, Livingston, and Billings; to 
placer mines in the vicinity of the plant; 
and to the cement mill at Trident, below 
Threeforks. A dam is under construction 
on Madison River which will store about 
350,000 acre-feet of water in what is 
known as the Hebgen reservoir. It is 
estimated that this reservoir when com- 
pleted will increase the total present 
development along Madison River by 
about 23,000 horsepower. 

2 When Lewis and Clark reached this 
point in their journey up the Missouri 
River, they were greatly worried by their 
inability to find a pass through the moun- 
tains or to meet Indians from whom they 
might obtain information regarding such 
a pass. They knew not. where the river 
would lead them, nor whether the moun- 
tains that lay in their pathway could be 
crossed. ._The reader mav obtain some 





conception of the difficulties that beset 
them by reading a brief quotation from 
their notes written while they were at 
Threeforks: _ 

‘‘We are now very anxious to see the 
Snake Indians. After advancing several 
hundred miles into this wild, mountain- 
ous country, we may soon expect that 
the game will abandon us. With no in- 
formation of the route, we may be unable 
to find a passage across the mountains 
when we reach the head of the river— 
at least such a pass as will lead us to the 
Columbia. Even are we so fortunate as 
to find a branch of that river, the timber 
which we have hitherto seen in these 
mountains does not promise us any fit to 
make canoes, so that our chief depend- 
ence is on meeting some tribe from who 
we may procure horses. Our consolation 
is that the southwest branch [J efferson 
River] can scarcely head with any other 
river than the Columbia, and that if any 
nation of Indians can live in the moun- 
tains we are able to endure as much as 
they can and have even better means of 
procuring subsistence.” ; | 


' 





: 
4 


— limestone. 





THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTER. 101 


most branch in honor of President Jefferson. The western branch, 
by reason of the volume of water and its greater length, is generally 
regarded as the real head of the Missouri. 

It was here that Sacajawea, the Indian woman who was the real 
guide of the expedition, found the place of her capture several years 
before. In recognition of her services in the early exploration of the 
country a bronze tablet, presented by former Senator W. A. Clark, has 
recently been placed on a large bowlder in the public park of Three- 


forks by the Montana Daughters of the American Revolution. 
Beyond Threeforks the railway leads up the broad flood plain of Jef- 
ferson River and is paralleled by the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 
Railway as far as Cardwell. The flood plain is com- 


Willow Creek. 


Elevation 4,165 feet. 
Population 333.* 
St. Paul 1,070 miles. 


posed largely of sand and gravel washed down from 
the mountains on either side, consequently the soil 
is thin and the region not well adapted to farming. 


At Willow Creek, however, soft lake beds cover the 

coarse gravel, and the country is more fertile. 
Beyond Willow Creek the railway approaches the bluffs on the 
south side of the valley, which consist of quartzite, shale, and lime- 
stone, of the Quadrant formation, backed by a higher ridge of Madison 


At milepost 17 the river flows in a narrow canyon through 
a point of this limestone which projects into the valley, and the two 


railways follow the passageway that the river has cut through the 


hard rock.! 


1]t is by no means uncommon to find 


that a river has cut its way through hard 


rock which it might have avoided by 
pursuing a slightly different course. The 
explanation for Jefferson River lies in the 


- fact that when the present course was 
established the valley was not cut to its 


a deep channel in the soft rocks of its val- 
ley bottom and revealed the hard rock 
beneath, but is was confined by walls of 
its own slow cutting and could not dodge 
aside when it encountered a more resistant 
rock. Asthe channel was worn lower, the 
stream became intrenched so deeply in 





FIGURE 19.—Diagram to explain the course of Jefferson River west of Willow Creek, Mont. 


The 


river cut through soft lake beds (DEF) to hard limestone (AB), but was then so deeply intrenched 


that it could not avoid the hard rock. 


present depth, and the hard limestone 
_ that now seems like a barrier in the path- 


way of the stream lay concealed below 
the surface. Under such conditions the 


_ stream was free to meander from side to 
side of its flat-bottomed valley, and one 
_ of its loops was located directly above the 


limestone ledge. In time the stream cut 


this hard rock as to make direct escape 
impossible, even after the whole aspect 
of the country had been changed by 
erosion and easier routes which the river 
might have taken had become evident. 
The situation is represented by figure 
19, in which ABC represents the cross 
section of the valley which one sees on 


102 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


From Sappington a branch line continues up the south side of the 
river for a mile or so and then turns up Antelope Creek to Norris and 
Pony. A short distance beyond the station the 
Northern Pacific crosses the St. Paul line, and from 
Elevation 4,205feet. this point on through the canyon the Northern 
St. Paul 1,076 miles. ’ : F i 

Pacific is on the north side of the river. About 2 
miles above Sappington the river again cuts through a ridge of the 
hard rocks which project from the great mass on the left. In this 
canyon the formations composing the earth’s crust have been greatly 
disturbed and tilted up on edge, but it is not easy to understand just 
how the originally horizontal beds of limestone and quartzite were 
forced into their present positions. Here again the stream has cut 
a canyon across a spur of hard rock projecting from the left, and here, 
as below Sappington, the stream could have avoided the obstruction 
by keeping on the soft rocks farther north. 

Beyond this canyon the river flows through an open valley com- 
posed of Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks which the traveler will hardly 


Sappington. 


~-—-o- --. 
aan > 
- 









Wily , XO 

ASS SQAIQUSSSRnees 
SSN SSA 
\ K 


FIGURE 20.—Section of great anticlinal fold near Lime Spur, Mont., asseen from the Northern Pacific 
Railway, looking west. ; 





be able to distinguish from the train. At milepost 26 he enters the 
deepest and most picturesque canyon on this part of the line. tng 
rocks in this canyon are in the form of a great anticline, as shown 
‘in figure 20, but the fold is so large and so badly broken that 
its form is difficult to determine. This fold has been produced by 


, 


looking west, with the limestone ridge | trench the soft material over which it 
AB projecting into it from the left. When | flowed. As it cut deeper it came into 
the present location of the river was deter- | contact with the limestone, but the 
mined it was flowing on the top of the lake | stream was intrenched in its course and 
beds, on a surface represented by DEF | so maintained its position, cutting its” 
which was smooth and with no irregulari- | way down to G, its present level. ‘ 
ties to prevent the stream flowing in any The soft ‘rocks upon which Jefferson 
part of the valley. Let us suppose that | River assumed its present course are the — 
it was located at Z; then some change | Tertiary lake beds, which probably filled _ 
occurred, such as an elevation of the land | the valley to a depth of several hundred — 
or an increase in the volume of water, | feet. : 

either one of which would give the stream The peculiar relations of the several 
greater cutting power, and it began to | formations, as seen in the small canyon 


: 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 103 


pressure from the north so great that the rocks have broken, as 
shown in the diagram, and ey Paleozoic formations on the north 
have been pushed over the Cretaceous formations on the south. Such 
a break is called an overthrust fault. 

The main part of the arch visible from the train is composed of 
Madison limestone, which is first seen from a westbound train at 
a point between mileposts 25 and 26. As shown in the diagram, the 
limestone at this place is only the broken fragment of the south side 
of the fold which has been nearly removed by the fault that crosses 
at the small loading platform on the right. The limestone at this 
place is overturned, dipping to the north, and it is probable that if 
it could be followed downward it would be found to grow thinner 
(beveled) and finally to be cut off altogether by the fault. 

At milepost 26 the Madison limestone gives place to the under- 
lying Threeforks shale (Devonian). The upper shaly part of this 
formation is covered so that it can scarcely be seen, but the lower 
part, consisting of a conglomerate composed largely of red granite 
débris, is seen in rugged cliffs on the east side of the track. — 

In the high mountain on the right there is said to be a wonderful 
cave in the Madison limestone, which has not yet been thoroughly 
explored. A quarter section (160 acres) of land, including the cave, 
was set aside by President Roosevelt on May 11, 1908, as the Lewis 
and Clark Cavern National Monument. Tite cavern, however, is so 
nearly inaccessible that it has been visited by only a few of the more 
hardy travelers. 

_ Opposite Lime Spur, 8 miles west of Sappington, the beds of 
‘Madison limestone outcrop along the canyon wall like great white 
ribs, making some of the most rugged scenery to be 
haw on the road. The limestone is quarried exten- 
sively at this place and shipped for the manufacture 
of cement. 

West of Lime Spur the Madison limestone gives place to the Quad- 
rant formation, which is well marked by the bright-red color of some 
of the limestone and shale beds that it contains. ‘Beyond this band 
of bright color is a small exposure of Jurassic rocks which are cut 
off by an immense overthrust fault, shown in figure 20. This fault 
separates the rocks already described from conglomerate and argillite 


| Lime Spur. 


Elevation, 4,260 feet. 
St. Paul, 1,084 miles. 


west of Sappington, could have been pro- 
duced only by folding and faulting, which 
were the results of strong forces that 
crowded the rocky layers into this region 
from both the north and the south. This 
caused them to buckle along east-west 
lines, much as a pad of paper will buckle 
when grasped by the hands along two 
opposite edges and compressed. The 





great compression which affected the 
rocks in this canyon produced at least 
three upward folds or anticlines, and as 
the movement was strongest from the 
north the folds were pushed over toward 
the south. As the pressure continued the 
rocky folds were broken, crushed, and 
crowded together into the positions shown 
on the west side of the river. 


104 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


(slate or hardened shale) of the Belt series (Algonkian). ‘The rail- 
way follows the west base of a mountain slope of this formation for 
nearly a mile and then enters the broad valley at the junction of 
Boulder and Jefferson rivers. 

On looking back from the vicinity of Cardwell one is impressed 
with the abrupt ending of the broad valley a little east of this place 

and the mountainous barrier that has apparently 
Cardwell. been thrown across the pathway of the stream. It 
ne Roknh fic is evident that either the mountains have risen across 
#3 ' the valley, or the valley about Cardwell has been 
depressed far below its former level, or perhaps both of these move- 
ments have taken place. As the river has succeeded in cutting a 
canyon through the uplifted mass, the movement must have been 
very slow, else the stream would have been ponded and found an 
outlet in some other place. 

The valley of Jefferson River, although little above water level, is 
very fertile, and good crops are raised in the vicinity of Cardwell. 
In flowing through this flat-bottomed valley the river is not confined 
to a single channel but breaks up into a number of channels, which 

in turn branch and unite in a com- 
SSS SSE plex and confusing manner. Such 


SSR EES LE a system of interlacing channels 
FORESEES is called a braided stream. It is 


FIGURE 21.—Diagram of braided stream. caused by the slight fall of the 
stream, which prevents it from carrying away all the sediment swept 
in by the numerous tributaries. This material chokes the stream and 
forces it to spread into numerous shallow and shifting channels, 
resembling the strands of a braid, as shown in figure 21. 

The Tobacco Root Mountains are prominent on the south, at 
Cardwell, and Bull Mountain on the north, though the latter is less 
conspicuous than the former. The end of Bull Mountain nearest the 
railway is composed of the Belt series, with the Tertiary lake beds 
lapping in around its base. The geology of the Tobacco Root Moun- 
tains is too complicated to describe here, and the rocks are so far 
distant that they can not be recognized from the train. | 

The railway for a long distance west of Cardwell is on an island in 
the braided stream, but beyond milepost 36 it crosses to the main- 
land, and Jefferson River is seen no more in the westward journey. 
At this place the railway leaves the trail of Lewis and Clark, for they 
followed up the main river toward the southwest, whereas the North- 
ern Pacific strikes across the range to the west, though it means a 
climb that even to the modern, high-power locomotive is a severe 
test. The St. Paul road also turns to the left, but ae to seek 
another pass in the same range ahead. | 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTER. 105 


At Whitehall a branch of the Northern Pacific turns to the left, 
going up the valley of Jefferson River to Twin Bridges and Alder. 
The town at the end of the line was named from 
Whitehall. Alder Gulch, which was one of the most noted placer 
ine 4371 feet. camps in the years immediately following its dis- 
St. Paul 1,095 miles, COVery in 1863. It is said to have yielded at least 
$60,000,000 and is still producing in a small way. 
Alder Gulch lies near Virginia City, at one time the capital of Mon- 
tana. West of Whitehall the road begins the ascent of about 2,000 
feet to Homestake Pass, on. the Continental Divide 23 miles away. 
Just beyond Whitehall the low hills on both sides of the track are 
composed of soft lake beds which are particularly well exposed just 
west of Pipestone. In the valley some distance to 
Pipestone. the south there are hot springs and a hotel. West of 
2 hag alee Pipestone the cuts along the railway show a fine- 
grained, dense igneous rock (andesite). This is part 
of a large body of similar rock that lies to the right (north) of the 
railway and east of the great mass of granite that forms the Conti- 
nental Divide. Most of the andesite was poured out over this region 
as lava when the surface was very different from that which the 


_ traveler sees to-day, but some of it was intruded from below into the 
older sedimentary rocks. The volcanic activity which gave rise to 
the andesite took place long before the granite was amie as is 


proved by the fact that near Pipestone the granite eremnded frag- 
ments of the older rock which were broken off and mixed with the 
molten granite as it ascended through a fissure in the rocky crust of 
the earth. 

Near milepost 48 the railway enters the att area of granite which 
extends northward along the range to Mullan Pass, west of Helena. 
The granite (quartz monzonite) came up from below i in a molten con- 
dition, forcing the rocks asunder or melting ‘them as it came. It 
Be obably did not reach the surface, but since it cooled and solidified 
it has been exposed by the streams, which have removed the over- 
lying rocks and cut deep ravines in the granitic mass. 

As the slope is too steep for a direct ascent, the road winds out and 
in, around projecting spurs, and up into the heads of valleys, but 
ever climbing toward the top. On the hills and upland the slopes 
are smooth and gentle, but in the gulches they are rocky in the 
extreme. 

Near milepost 50 the traveler, by looking ahead on the left, can 
see a bare dome of granite, known as Spire Rock, the base of which 
the train will pass farther up the grade. Other knobs or domes of 
gray granite appear from time to time, standing above the general 
surface. These landmarks resemble the domes of Yosemite Valley, 
which are formed of similar rock. Such domes and indeed the great 


106 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


number of rounded forms which the granite assumes on weathering 
are due to the facts that the corners and edges are more exposed to — 
the attacks of weather than broad surfaces are, and that this rock, 
which is popularly regarded as the type of stability, readily disinte- 
erates or falls to pieces on exposure to the atmosphere. At many 
places along the track the granite has been reduced by weathering 
to fine fragments called ‘‘sand.”’ 

The general slope leading to the summit seems to be an old sur- 
face, on which the granite is deeply decayed, indicating long exposure 
to the weather, but the ravines, which have been cut more recently, 
are jagged and irregular. The difference in the two surfaces may be 
seen near milepost 56, where the railway leaves the smooth surface 
of the upland and enters a gorge which is cut below the general level 
and which is marked by blocks of all sizes and shapes, including 
domes, towers, and pinnacles that seem to be scattered over the 
ground in hopeless confusion. 

This combination of smooth upland and rocky canyons continues — 
to the top, which is remarkably free from rugged peaks. Although 
there is a short tunnel here, the real summit of the mountain is only ~ 
about 100 or 150 feet above the railway track. 

This is the backbone of the continent, the height toward which 
the train has been climbing since leaving Missouri River at Mandan. 
The traveler may be disappointed in the Continental 
Divide, for it is no more conspicuous than many of 
the other ranges in sight. In fact, the Rocky Moun-— 
tains are a great complex of mountain ranges, no one 
of which dominates the others to any extent. On the west side of — 
the Homestake tunnel can be obtained a better realization of height, — 
for the descent to Butte is made along a rugged mountain side, and 
one can look down to the left 1,000 feet to fhe valley, seemingly almost 
vertically below.t. (See Pl. XVL.) : 


Homestake. 


Elevation 6,345 feet. 
St. Paul 1,118 miles. 











carving out of the valley by rain and ry 
streams, is really separated from the low-_ 
land by an actual break in the rocks and 


‘The difference in the appearance of 
the two sides of the Continental Divide 
is very striking. On the east side the 


slopes are gradual, so that the railway 
can follow almost directly up the old 
smooth slope, but on the west the slope 
is so precipitous that the road must be 
graded along the rocky mountain side for 
8 or 9 miles in order to get down to the 
valley floor. So steep and regular a 
front bordering a broad, flat valley sug- 
gests some other mode of origin than 
erosion, which is the normal agency in 
the production of mountains and valleys. 
It gives the impression that this range, 
instead of owing its relative height to the 


has been lifted bodily to its present posi-— 
tion, or the valley has been’ depressed 
with reference to the mountain. If the 
rocks along the mountain front south of 
Butte are examined, evidence will be 
found to show that there has been recent 
movement in them and a break (fault) or 
series of breaks along the west face which 
allowed the great. block of strata on the 
east side of the fault to be raised at least | 
1,000 feet with reference to the strata | 
on the other side. The steep’ = | 

front is therefore the cut edge of a great | 











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THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTR. 107 


The train winds in and out around the spurs of the mountain, 
plunging through deep cuts and speeding over high trestles. In the 
course of a few miles the city of Butte comes into 
view on the side of a barren hill. Its general appear- 
ance is most desolate. Bare, brown slopes, burnt 
and forbidding, from which all vegetation was long 
ago driven by the fumes from the smelters, rise from 
an almost equally barren valley. The slopes, even in the city, are 
gridironed by railway tracks leading to the different mines, and great 
mine buildings, tall smokestacks, steel hoist frames, and the heaps 
of gray waste rock from the mines are the most conspicuous features 
of the landscape. West of the city is the sharply conical hill, Big 
Butte, from which the city takes its name. If the traveler enters 
Butte in the evening he may obtain a beautiful view of the lights of 


Butte. 


Elevation 5,490 feet. 
Population 39,165. 
St. Paul 1,128 miles. 


block of rock that has been tilted gently 
to the east, and the time since it was 
raised to its present position has not been 
sufficient to permit the streams to cut 
deep ravines on it. 

The tilting and lifting of this block of 
strata have disarranged many of the 
streams, causing some of them to flow in 
opposite directions from those which 


the part on the right rising about 1,000 
feet. Now the mountain top, instead of 
being at B, is at D, more than 1,000 feet 
above the valley. 

Although the main movement that 
raised the Continental Divide to its 
present position is supposed to have 
ceased, there still appears to be slight 
movement in the rocks under Butte. 


‘they pursued prior to the uplift. It 
seems probable also that the block west 
of the fault was depressed at the same 
time, for it is difficult to understand how 


Many underground water pipes have 
been broken, and considerable difficulty 
_has been experienced from the irregular 
settling of foundations. For a long time 


| 


R 
M 
§ 
x 


TUNNEL 













the headwaters. of Silver Bow Creek 
could be ponded and produce the flat 
that can be seen from the train, unless it 
were the result of the downward tilting 
of the block west of the fault. The con- 
dition isillustrated by figure 22, in which 
the cross profile of the range before the 
faulting occurred is represented by the 
line ABC. The surface around Butte 
showed little relief, the mountain north 
of Homestake Pass being only a few 
hundred feet high. Then came the break 
along the line indicated by the arrows, 








Figure 22.—Diagram of Continental Divide east of Butte, Mont. Before faulting occurred the divide, 
as shown by the broken line A BC, was an upland of slight relief and no higher than Butte is to-day. 


these slight movements have been 
attributed to the extensive mine workings 
beneath the city, but on close study it 
was found that water pipes were broken 
in parts of the town far removed from 
any mine. This suggests that there may 
be movement along some of the old fault 
planes. The United States Geological 
Survey has run some very exact levels 
and has set a number of bench marks, 
so that in the future it can be told posi- 
tively whether the rocks under the town 
are moving and, if so, at what rate. 


108 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


the city twinkling through the smoke and haze, but in the daylight 
all beauty disappears. 

When the smelters were pouring out their destructive fumes there 
was not a spear of grass nor a green leaf visible, but now most of the 
ore is smelted at Anaconda and Great Falls, and the valley is gradually 
recovering some of its vegetation. Of the city itself perhaps no 
better description can be given than that contaimed in ‘Along the 
scenic highway,” a pamphlet issued by the Northern Pacific Co.: 

Butte is unique among the cities of the world, * * * possessing all the united 
wealth of its tremendous copper deposits, with thousands of well-paid miners. With 
a large and growing trade in commercial lines, it is an odd and interesting combina-— 
tion of frontier mining camp and modern city, smoke-begrimed manufacturing point, 
and an orderly, well-kept residential center. It isa city of glaring, violent contrasts, 
where money seems quite the easiest thing to obtain, where men work furiously and 
spend the proceeds of their labor with open hand, where the fine instincts of modern 
city life struggle constantly with the old order of things, and where the mining camp — 
and twentieth-century municipality have been mixed into one rugged mass but have 
not yet quite blended. Butte boasts with reason that it is the greatest mining camp_ 
in the world and may with equal reason boast of its achievement as a modern city. 


The positions of the famous copper mines are indicated by the 
ereat shaft buildings and tall smokestacks in and about the town. 
Underground the rocks are honeycombed with workings, and day” 
and night, without cessation, the work goes on at depths which im 
some of the mines reach 3,000 feet. Up to the present time the- 
value of the metal output BE the district has reached the enormous 
sum of over $1,000,000,000. The ore is found in the granite, but 
the highly mineralized rocks are confined to an area only a few 
square miles in extent. The mining conditions are described below 
by B.S. Butler. 





‘1 Butte was at first a placer camp, and 
the district was named the Summit Val- 
ley district on account of its nearness to 
the Continental Divide. This is still the 
official name of what is commonly called 
the Butte district. Gold was discovered 
in gravel near the present site of Main 
Street in 1864, and in the next few years 
the district produced gold to the value 
of about $1,500,000. While the placers 
were being operated, efforts were made 
to work the quartz veins for silver, but 
without success. About 1875, however, 
attempts to work these ores were renewed, 
and the Dexter 10-stamp mill was erected, 
but important production did not begin 
till 1876, when the mill was completed 
by W. A. Clark, later United States Sen- 
ator from Montana. About the same 















time Marcus Daly arrived in the distric 4 
and began operations in the Alice mine. 
The camp developed rapidly, and for 
many years these two men were promi- 
nent in mining enterprises in this distriail 
The district continued to be a large pro- 
ducer of silver ore until the decrease in 
price of that metal in 1893 caused many 
companies in Butte, as elsewhere in the 
West, to cease operations. . 

The presence of copper minerals w: 
noted in the district probably as early as” 
placer gold or the silver veins, but unde 
existing conditions there was little in 
ducement for prospecting the coppe 
veins. Nevertheless some unsuccessful 
attempts to smelt the copper ores were 
made in 1866, and early in the seventies” 
some copper ore was hauled 400 miles to 


¥ 
: 
} | 
a 
e 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 


109 


In the early days Butte, like the other mining camps of Montana, 
suffered greatly from the lack of transportation facilities, as the 
only way to get supplies was to have them brought up the Missouri 
or Yellowstone River as far as steamboats could come and then by 
team over the mountains to the camp, and the metals produced had 





Corinne, Utah, whence it was shipped 
by rail to smelters in other parts of the 
country. 

The first successful smelter in this dis- 
trict was put into operation about 1880 
by the Colorado & Montana Smelting 
Co., and this was followed by a rapid de- 
velopment of the copper industry. Pro- 
duction was greatly stimulated in 1881 
by the completion of the Utah Northern 
Railroad (now Oregon Short Line) to 
Butte, followed a few years later by other 
railroad connections. The first smelting 
plants were near Butte, but in 1883 the 
Anaconda Co. began the construction at 
Anaconda, in Deer Lodge Valley, about 
27 miles from Butte, of a plant which has 
become one of the largest copper smelters 


‘in the world, its capacity being 12,500 


| 





tons of orea day. It was rebuilt in 1902 
at a cost of $7,500,000. About 1892 the 
Boston & Montana Co. erected a plant 
having a daily capacity of 4,500 tons at 
Great Falls, where the water power of the 
Missouri is available. At present there 
is but one smelter near Butte, that of the 


| East Butte Copper Co. 


! 





In recent years the development of 
large bodies of zinc ore at Butte has led 
to the construction of plants for its 
concentration, and the mill of the Butte 
& Superior Co. has successfully demon- 
strated the economic importance of these 
ores. 

The efforts to apply to the complex 
and enormously valuable veins at Butte 
that provision of our mining law which 
permits the owner of the upper part 


(apex) of a vein to follow his ore under 


the surface of adjoining claims has bur- 
dened the district with protracted and 


costly litigation, to an extent probably 


unequaled in the history of mining in 
other parts of the world. 

The Butte district has yielded more 
copper than any other district in the 
world, the total output to the close of 


1913 being 6,154,196,000 pounds, or about 


one-third of the total copper output of the 
United States. It has produced also 
$26,268,500 in gold, 275,119,000 ounces of 
silver, 11,300,000 pounds of lead, and 
181,540,000 pounds of zinc. The values 
of these metals are as follows: 


C1 Fa NOE Aaa Gn ae a $26, 268, 500 
pea ER a Pees wry tfc d 191, 765, 300 
Copper 865, 794, 300 
eadieasetenc. 0% S's 513, 500 
HATE AN BS a a 12, 093, 600 


1, 096, 435, 200 

A large part of the output has come 
from an area of but a few square miles, 
which so far as value is concerned, has 
undoubtedly been the most productive 
metalliferous area of its size in the world. 

In recent years some arsenic has been 
recovered from the smelter fumes and 
small quantities of the rarer metals have 
been recovered in the electrolytic refining 
of the copper. 

The metallic deposits at Butte occur 
near the western border of an area of the 
granitic rock technically known as quartz 
monzonite. Near Butte this rock has 
been intruded by dikes of light-colored 
siliceous rocks known as aplite and rhyo- 
lite. The Big Butte and a large area 
northwest of it are composed of rhyolite 
that has risen through openings in the 
older rocks and covered the surface. 

The rocks in the vicinity of Butte have 
been broken by many faults and fissures, 
the greatest of which is the Continental 
fault, described on page 107. Long before 
the break of the Continental fault and 
soon after the intrusion and solidification 
of the granite, the rocks were broken by 
one series of fissures and faults having a 
general northwesterly direction and an- 
other series having a general northeasterly 
direction. Water carrying minerals in 
solution rose along these fissures and de- 
posited the ore in part as a filling of the 
fissures and in part as a gradual replace- 
ment of the rock adjacent to the fissures. 


110 


GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES, 


to be sent out by the same slow, expensive way. The city is now 
served by five railways, three of which are transcontinental lines. 

After leaving Butte the railway follows down Silver Bow Creek, 
which received its name from a party of prospectors who, in 1864, 


reached the valley in the vicinity of Butte. 


They had an extended 


discussion regarding the best name for the stream, and while they 
were talking the clouds broke away and the sunshine falling on the 
creck as it circled around the mountain suggested the name Silver 
Bow. At that time the creek may have looked like a silver bow, 


but now there is little similarity. 


The composition of the veins shows a 
progressive change in metal and mineral 
composition from a central area outward. 
The central area contains mainly copper 
ores. These grade outward into ores con- 
taining increasing quantities of zinc, lead, 
and silver, together with abundant man- 
ganese minerals, and showing a decrease 
in copper, until in the outer zone the 
ores are valuable chiefly for their silver, 
gold, and zinc content. 

The veins at the surface have all been 
highly oxidized, and from some the cop- 
per has been leached to depths of several 
hundred feet. In mining some of the 
veins have been followed to a depth of 
3,000 feet and show little change in min- 
eral composition after the first few hun- 
dred feet. In fact, in many veins the 
change in depth is less striking than in 
an equal distance horizontally. 

In the early days of copper mining in 
the district the ores extracted were of 
high grade and were smelted direct. 
Later large bodies of low-grade ores were 
mined and concentrated at the plants at 
Anaconda and Great Falls, and the result- 
ant concentrates smelted to recover the 
metal. Mare recently a plant has been 
constructed at Anaconda for leaching the 
tailings from the concentrating plant to 
recover the copper lost in the operation. 
A plant has also been placed in operation 
at East Butte, by the Butte & Duluth 
Co., to leach the copper from’ oxidized 
ores. A portion of the copper from Butte 
is electrolytically refined at Great Falls, 
but the greater part is sent to the Atlantic 
seaboard for refining. The water from 
the mines carries a considerable quantity 
of copper in solution, the metal being 
recovered by precipitation on old iron. 


1 The railroads were naturally anxious 
to get the trade of such places as Butte 
and made every effort to reach them at 
the earliest moment possible. While 
the Northern Pacific was pushing its 
line from the east and from the west, the 
Utah Northern, now the Oregon Short 
Line, built into the district from the 
south, the first train arriving December 
21, 1881. This road gave direct connec- 
tion with the Union Pacific. Although 
the Northern Pacific had through trains — 
running by way of Helena in 1883, not 
until 1888 did it make a vigorous effort 
to reach Butte. At the same time the 
Montana Central Railroad Co. was or- 
ganized, and both it and the Northern 
Pacific began to build parallel lines from : 
Helena to Butte. There was great 
rivalry in the construction work, but as 
the Montana Central, now the Great 
Northern, succeeded in getting its line 
through first, the Northern Pacific line 
was abandoned after it had been built as_ 
far as Boulder. The Montana Central 
line from Helena to Butte was opened for ~ 
traffic on July 12, 1888. 4 

The Northern Pacific, however, did 
not give up the project of reaching Butte” 
and a few years later built a line from 
Logan, giving the camp a direct outlet 
to the east, but still there was no main line 
through the camp. On September 8, 
1893, the Montana Union Railroad was” 
completed by Union Pacific interests” 
from Butte to Garrison, thus giving a 
direct outlet to the west. This line was 
used jointly by both the Union Pacific 
and the Northern Pacific for a few years, 
but eventually it passed into the hands of — 
the latter, and it is now one of the main F 
lines of the system. | 

















THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 111 


The valley is wide, the immediate hills are low, and the slopes are 
gentle and rolling. At Silver Bow station, 7 miles from Butte, the 
Oregon Short Line (Union Pacific) turns to the 
Silver Bow. left (south),and after a short climb crosses the sum- 
Siler te ogi er mit at Deer Lodge Pass. Beyond Silver Bow 
station the valley continues open for a distance of 
4 miles to a point where the stream enters a very narrow, rugged 
canyon cut in massive rhyolite, a voleani¢ rock that covers much of 
the country west of Butte. The rock when freshly broken is nearly 
white, but under the influence of the weather it turns to a deep, 
rich red, which gives a pleasing relief to the somber-gray color of 
the granite to the east. The Butte, Anaconda & Pacific Railroad 
(recently electrified) and the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul and 
Northern Pacific railways also occupy the canyon, which, on account 
of its narrowness, is very much congested. (See Pl. XVII, p- 107.) 
Aside from its ruggedness and picturesqueness this canyon has 
an added interest because it owes its origin to the filling of the 
original valley on the north with lake sediment and the cutting of a 
new course by the stream, similar to that of Jefferson River, described 
on page 101. After the disappearance of the lake Silver Bow Creek 
came into existence, and on the swampy bottom of the lake it 
meandered broadly. In its windings it had assumed its present 
position, when, through the elevation of the land, it gained cutting 
power and began to deepen its channel. In doing so it encountered 
‘the rhyolite, but it continued to cut, and the canyon is the result. 
_ At Durant the train emerges from the canyon into a valley much 
broader than the one at Butte or Silver Bow. This, the renowned 
Deer Lodge Valley, is much too large to have been 
Durant. carved by the stream now occupying it. The eastern 
Elevation 5,174 feet. traveler has doubtless noticed that the valleys in 
St. Paul 1,142 miles. 4 x ; 2 f 
| this region are generally different from those with 
which he is familiar. Valleys that are the result of stream erosion 
have generally a width that is roughly proportional to the size of 
the stream, and as a rule they decrease in size toward the head of 
the stream. In the northern part of the Rocky 
Stuart. Mountains many of the larger valleys are out of pro- 
Elevation 5,006 feet. portion to the size of the streams occupying them, 
St. Paul 1,146 miles. : 
i Se and hence it does not seem probable that they were 
formed alone by the erosive action of the streams.! 
The most conspicuous artificial object in the Deer Lodge Valley 
is the giant stack of the Anaconda smelter on the left (west), 350 













‘As the origin of many of the broad | duced by movement in the earth’s crust, 
valleys of the northern Rocky Mountains | either the direct subsidence of the val- 
"an not be attributed to erosion, it is | ley itself or the elevation of the surround- 
nanifest that they must have been pro- | ing mountain masses. Subsidence may 


112 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES, 


feet high, from which issues a never-failing cloud of yellow smoke. 
The train does not pass close enough to Anaconda for the traveler 
to see much of the town, which is reached by a spur from the main 
line at Durant, but he is soon made aware of the effect of the waste 
waters from the concentration plant, which have flowed down the 
creek and killed most of the vegetation. Back of the smelter is 
Mount Haggin, named for James B. Haggin, who for many years was 
prominent in the mining industry of Butte. On the west side of the 
valley farther north is Racetrack Peak, which stands like a senti- 
nel keeping guard over the entire valley. In 1910 Anaconda had a 
population of 10,134. 


have been accomplished in one of three 
ways, as illustrated by figure 23. In 
this diagram AB represents a section 
across a country with a hilly surface. A 
broad valley may be formed by a simple 
depression of the region, as illustrated 


fault, as shown in FG. Here the block 
of strata on the left has been tilted toward 
the right and at the same time dropped 
along the fault HZ until a depression and 
lake are formed. The third and last case 
is that of a block of the earth’s crust 


a TTT rage Wy) arr Yj. LLL pe Te a 
UM Lit WM Yi Mi pri 
OT E 
YYW; YY Fj yp MMi, i’ 
fo) 
Hf . 
, > { ] iy, ee 
“ | 
VV | 





FIGURE 23.—Diagrams illustrating the ways in which the broad valleys of the Rocky Mountain region 
were formed. 4 


by CE, in which the center D is depressed 
so much that the tops of the hills fall be- 
low drainage level. In such a case the 
depressed portion becomes a lake, and 
the lake is finally filled by waste material 
washed in from the surrounding region. 
Similar results may be produced by a 


x 


dropped between two nearly oa 
faults, as shown in JK, : f 

Deer Lodge Valley was probably pro- 
duced by one of the three methods de- 
scribed above, but by which one can 
be told only by close examination and 
mapping. 7 


| 
| 
/ 
| 


- a> Vr ree 


SHEET No. 16 









wate 





a 





Diryjaee 


— ea Sy 
Se 
PL ee: 
Ws KC ee 
: ( ¢ 
7 \ 
= Yio 


Sheet No./5 








eS eee 

7} 0} Of/ | 
\{ c fe 
Say Cay baie ees 
erat Az. 
\ { = ~ BY 
SARS 
rN Reo yy 
ea ee” 

yy A 
i eer 
~~) Reo} 
Norris 
a 
so 
7) 
1 (2 
Scale 500,000 AX 
Approximately 8 miles to | inch \ : ey 
10 \§ 20Miles 
5 10 15 20 25 30Kilometers 


Contour interval 200 feet - 
EVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
neces from St. Paul, Minnesota. are shown every i0 miles 


e crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 


° 
11 30’ 


ERGRAVED AND PRINTEO GY TME U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


i 


BULLETIN 611 : SHEET No. 16 






o 
II} 30° 





Sheet No/7 





Sheet No/8 






\ 
\ 
\ 
| 
A Pigs OH ; ) bc > RVR), aE f ¢ J INP ekap | | 
SAK NA - eS ~ ‘ » 5 V4 R é . c 7 - l ‘ i y)\ ‘ y aS. : \ Rit IK ~S) . - Y ‘ ' ee 
“ax SS = 
NY) Ny a 
KS) 


( 
\ 
ie 






































X 
9 
= 
w 
OF THE % 
=< 
NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 5 
From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington ee Ne 
EXPLANATION 
Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas Thickheds 
z ; ‘ : in feet 
Sheets, from r ailroad alignments and profiles supplied by A Stream deposits (alluvium) Quaternary 
the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional Pee Ce cal cana. GH wcluaisd uel 
information collected with the assistance of this company (lake beds) 2,000 Late Tertiary 
Dark shale, (Colorado) 1,900 Upper Cretaceous Gineiss 
Sandstone and red shale 
UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 3 K (Kootenai formation) 900 Lower Cretaceous 
d : Impure limestone and quartzite 
GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR ; (Ellis formation) 400 Jurassic Norris 
: : ; ; . Sandstone and impure limestone 
David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer H Candrack Ares 1.800 -Carbowferous 
1915 (Massive blue limestone (Madison) y2) 
: se ee ees o 
e ~ Shale and shaly limestone a 
R) I (Threeforks shale) 1,000 Devonian (@ 1 
Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the S AY Dark limestone (Jefferson) a Scale 500,000 
lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 45] N ae te (Gallatin ) _ Approximately 8 miles to 1 inch 45 
Sheet of that name. : J 4Shale, limestone, and sandstone 1,300 Cambrian 1 5% 10 aaa ; 30! 
| (Flathead formation) i ZOMiles 
L Shale, limestone, sandstone, and “0 
conglomerate (Belt series)‘ 8,000 Algonkian Meena Our une 
M_ Gneiss and schist Archean Contoufintewalonn feat 
ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
R Lava flows, dacite, and rhyolite 
S Granite, intrusive The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota. are shown every 10 miles 
T Lava flows‘and intrusive masses, andesite The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
Ge ee = ee - 7 a .. ta eT > I. ee St a ne 
12-30’ le - 








° 
eee Noe asnaveiaaeaaea pre oe Aeneas. ee I 30° 





ENGRAVED AND PRINTED BY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


TEE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE, 


The town of Warm Springs (see sheet 18, p. 134) is built 
group of springs having a temperature of about 150° and 
a copious flow of water. 
miles wide and is so flat that much of it is swampy. 
The hills on the right (east), about 
are composed of light-colored clay and volcanic ash 


Warm Springs. 


Elevation 4,832 feet. 
Population 866.* 
St. Paul 1,153 miles. 


113 
around a 
affording 


The valley floor is several 


500 feet high, 


and are remnants of the Tertiary lake beds that 


once filled the valley at least as high as the top of these hills. 


These 


materials were deposited in a great lake, which occupied this valley 
at the same time that similar lakes occupied the Gallatin and Madi- 


son valleys to the east.! 





‘There is no more interesting sub- 
ject in the geology of the mountain 
region of Montana than that of the lake 
beds. They imply conditions which at 
first sight seem to be anomalous—that 
is, extensive bodies of water in a rough 
mountainous region. As shown by the 
map of western Montana on sheet 18 
(p. 134), lake beds have been found in 
practically every valley from the Yel- 
lowstone on the east to the Bitterroot on 
the west, but they have not been ob- 
served in many of the valleys north of 
Blackfoot River. It therefore seems 
fairly safe to assume that in Tertiary time 
lakes existed in nearly every mountain 
valley in the State. Many of the valleys 
that to-day are separated were doubtless 
connected through the canyons, but in 
such locations the material deposited in 
the lakes has been removed by the swiftly 
flowing streams. In other valleys the lake 
sediments that were once continuous 
have been separated by the breaking of 
the earth’s crust into great blocks and the 
tilting of these blocks in various direc- 
tions. Although the distribution of the 
materials that were laid down in these 
lakes indicates that many of them were 
connected, a study of the bones of animals 
that lived at the time and were buried in 
the mud and sand of the lakes indicates 
that the lake-forming conditions extended 
over a long period of time, some of the 
fossils being of Oligocene, some of Mio- 
cene, and some of Pliocene age. It is 
generally supposed, however, that most 


95558°—Bull. 611—15 8 








of the lakes were in existence in the 
Miocene epoch, 

Lakes are abnormal features and have 
no place in the orderly development of a 
drainage system—that is, when a drainage 
system is established on the land there ig 
no tendency in the action of the streams 
to form lakes, and when such features are 
formed they are the direct result of some 
interference with the work of the streams. 

Most lakes in mountainous regions are 
due to the action of glaciers, either in 
scouring out rock basins or in damming 
valleys with moraines or with the outwash 
of sand and gravel from the front of the ice. 
If the old lakes of Montana were due to 
the action of ice, there would remain some 
trace of the glaciers that did the work and 
of the great dams which they must have 
built. Dams formed by landslides or lava 
flows would likewise leave some evidence 
of their existence, and they could not 
have been so extensive as to pond the 
water in all the principal valleys opening 
out on both sides of the range. 

The wide extent of the lakes seems at 
once to rule out all local causes, so it is 
necessary to appeal to some cause that 
would have been operative throughout a 
wide region and that would have been 
adequate to produce such results. The 
great regional cause that is fully compe- 
tent to pond rivers or produce lake basins 
is movement within the crust of the earth 
whereby one area is raised or depressed 
with relation to another. To the geologist 
the history of the earth, so far as it has 


114 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


Beyond Warm Springs the valley of Clark Fork continues broad and 
flat; in many places near the stream it is swampy, but on the terraces 
on each side there is good farm land. On the left 
(west) from Race Track there are many deep canyons 
in the side of Flint Creek Mountain, through which 
glaciers, long past, have flowed down from the high 
summits even to the level of the main valley. This indicates that 
most if not all of the side ravines were cut before the glaciers were 
developed, and that since their disappearance there has been little 


Race Track. 


Elevation 4,710 feet. 
St. Paul 1,160 miles. 


change in the surface features. 


At Deer Lodge terraces about 200 feet high are well developed on 
both sides of the valley. Apparently these terraces are remnants of 
the floor of the valley at a much earlier epoch, and 


Deer Lodge. 


Elevation 4,530 feet. 
Population 2,570. 
St. Paul 1,169 miles. 


possibly they may correspond with those observed on 
the east side of the valley near Warm Springs. North 
of Deer Lodge there is a terrace on the left, but the 


one on the right has disappeared and is replaced by 
low hills composed of soft Cretaceous rock.’ 


been interpreted, consists of the record of 
an almost infinite number of such oscilla- 
tions, with accompanying changes in the 
outline of the land and water. 

A regional subsidence in the Rocky 
Mountains of Montana relative to the 
plains would readily account for the for- 
mation of lakes in all the valleys that were 
deep enough to lie below drainage level, 
and this will be accepted as at least a rea- 
sonable working hypothesis. According 
to this view a rough mountain region, 
probably as mountainous as it is to-day, 
was depressed hundreds or perhaps thou- 
sands of feet, until the streams failed to 
flow out in their accustomed courses, as 
the plains beyond were higher than the 
mountain valleys. The water from the 
rains and melting snows of the mountains 
soon filled the valleys until the water rose 
high enough to discharge over the plains 
country. Under such conditions there 
may have been many lakes or there may 
have been one large lake with ramifica- 
tions in the valleys among the moun- 
tains. 

Into the lakes thus formed the moun- 
tain streams poured mud, sand, and gravel, 
the mud being carried far out in the lake 


to settle as fine clay while the sand and 
gravel were dropped near shore. At least 
600 feet of such material has bien meas- 
ured in some of the valleys, and probably 
it was originally much thicker. In some 
valleys the lakes were evidently filled, 
and the surface became a swamp in which 
vegetation flourished and finally was con- 
verted into coal or lignite. Such beds 
have been found near Drummond and 
Missoula, along the line of the Northern 
Pacific Railway, and in the vicinity of 
the Glacier National Park, near the Great 
Northern Railway. ; 

The climate of this region in the lake 
period, as indicated by the animals and 
plants that lived then, seems to have been 
much like that of central or southern 
Africa at the present time. The lake beds 
have not been searched thoroughly, but it 
is known that mastodons, horses, camels, 
and rhinoceroses roamed the hills in that 
far-off time, and that the filled basins were 
swamps in which flourished a luxuriant 
vegetation. | 

1 The broad Deer Lodge Valley extends 
from Durant northwestward to Drum- 
mond, but its continuation beyond Garri- 
son may not be apparent from the train, 









THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 115 


Garrison was named in honor of William Lloyd Garrison. Here the 
railway line through Butte unites with the original line of the North- 
ern Pacific through Helena. The valley at Garrison 
is much narrower than it is above that place, the 
cliff on the west being composed of a volcanic rock 
(andesite) and that on the east of sandstone, shale, 
and beds of volcanic tuff ' of Upper Cretaceous age. 


Garrison. 


Elevation 4,344 feet. 
St. Paul 1,180 miles. 


[The itinerary west of Garrison is continued on page 127.] 


The present condition and possible mode 
of formation of the valley are illustrated 
by figure 24, which represents a section 
along the railway from Durant on the 
south to Drummond on the north. <As 
first formed, this valley was a great struc- 

_ tural depression in the hard rocks, as rep- 
resented by AB. In that basin sediment 
accumulated in Miocene time until the 
depression was filled, as shown in the dia- 
gram. The place where Garrison now 
stands was then near the middle of the 
basin, and probably only soft lake sedi- 
ments showed at the surface from Durant 
to Drummond. 


map or by a view from some commanding 
summit on the valley rim. 

On account of the deformation of the old 
basin or trough, the immediate stream 
channel below Garrison for several miles 
is a veritable canyon in the Cretaceous 
rocks, but farther down it opens out into 
another wide expanse deeply covered by 
material laid down in the lake. 

* Tuff is a rock composed of fragments 
of lava, as a rule more or less distinctly 
bedded. These fragments may have been 
blown from a volcanic vent and may have 
settled down on dry land or in water. 
Even if deposited on land, the material 




















v 

5 ¢ 

S 6. w 

g 9 is 

N S R 
AQ 8 8 B 

I~ > MMM 77. — ___=_ SSS ilil 

NS /, 

§ N 

g RY ie 

g iS ; 

N e § S 
cg AOU oe Sp 
TT, LL: 12.0yoO————SFSSSSS FH 

SSS — j 
s /; //, Y 


_ Figure 24.—Sections along Northern Pacific Railway between Durant and Drummond, Mont., showing 
. probable mode of formation of Deer Lodge Valley. 


At some later stage the floor of the 
basin was upraised midway between these 
two ends (see CD), so that the lake beds 
were exposed to erosion. The soft, inco- 
herent lake sediments were soon washed 
away, and the stream trenched the under- 
lying Cretaceous rocks to a depth of sev- 
eral hundred feet. The upraising of the 
middle part of the trough left a depression 
at either end, and at the present time 
these structural depressions are marked 
by broad valleys, such as can be seen at 
Deer Lodge and at Drummond. The 
presence of a broad valley connecting 
these two marked depressions can be 
realized only by a study of a contoured 


may be so fine and loose as to be rapidly 
washed into the nearest body of water, 
there to accumulate as a stratified rock. 
Some of the finer-grained tuffs are largely 
volcanic ash—that is, the dustlike mate- 
rial produced when hot lava, thrown into 
the air, is blown into small particles by 
the explosive action of the steam that is 
an original constituent of all molten lava. 
Coarser tuffs may include angular blocks 
of lava many feet in diameter or rounded 
masses that have solidified as they flew 
through the air, and are known as volcanic 
bombs. Some tuffs include also much 
sedimentary material from the erosion of 
freshly erupted lavas, 


116 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES, 


LOGAN TO GARRISON BY WAY OF HELENA. 


A short distance west of the station at Logan (see sheet 16, p. 112) 
the Helena line crosses Gallatin River and then follows this stream 
to its junction with the other rivers that form the Missouri. At the 
bridge and for a short distance beyond it the 
railway skirts the foot of a bluff of Madison 
limestone, but this rock dips below river 
level and beyond it the bluff is composed 
of the overlying Quadrant formation. Al- 
though the Quadrant resembles limestone it 
contains little of that rock, being generally 
composed of quartzite or flinty beds that are 
much harder and generally of a lighter color 
than the limestone. These beds in turn dip 
below water level and the rocky bluffs give 
way to a low rolling country with swampy 
land near the track. 

The railway follows the flat bottom of 
Gallatin River for some distance and thence 
once more follows the cliffs of the Madi- 
son limestone, which is brought up from 
below water level by a great anticlinal 
fold. On the left (west) there is an ex- 
tensive flat valley through which Gallatin, 
Madison, and Jefferson rivers flow on their 
way to join forces and form Missouri River. 
They unite at the entrance to the gorge which 
the combined stream has cut through the 
limestone and which the train is about to 
enter. This junction, known as Threeforks, 
has attracted the attention of every travy- 
eler who has entered this region since 1805, 
when it was first seen by Lewis and Clark. 
(See p. 100.) . 

North of Threeforks the river has cut a 
canyon along a great arch or anticline which at 
the entrance to the canyon brings up to view 
only the Madison limestone, but the fold increases in magnitude north- 
ward (downstream) and lower formations are successively brought 
above water level. As shown in figure 25 this fold is not a simple arch, 
but the force which bent the rocks was so great that the fold was 
pushed over to the east, or overturned. The rocks were then broken 
or faulted, as shown in figure 26 (p. 117). 





mreg Teayag [2h 


The rocks, as seen from the railway, appear to be jumbled, but 


really they are bent into symmetrical folds. 


FIGURE 25.—Section between Logan and Trident, Mont. 





THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 117 


At Trident, in the canyon of the Missouri, there is a large plant 
for the manufacture of cement from the Threeforks (Devonian) shale,! 
which is obtained from the crushed rock in the over- 
turned anticline shown in the diagram. From Three- 
forks to Lombard, a distance of 15 miles, the Chicago, 
Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway parallels the Northern 
Pacific, on the opposite side of the river. 


Trident. 


Elevation, 4,045 feet. 
St. Paul, 1,063 miles. 







s _ “y ee 
¢ A Pips DB ae 
ot E Pas 
, - FF 
dh ee a ? {ee rae / bie? 7 a “So TSG 
/ ate” ve , gon Vy . > 

/ PA ef a ren grone We e 

7 ¢ | ey \ 
° cA v, S i? ‘- : <\ 
Px J WS Sr Aaa 
g LE ee SRA 
ah MRM AR LY 

, v Be: 


- 
- 


FIGURE 26.—Faulted fold at Trident, Mont., lookiag northeast. 


For 5 miles beyond Trident the railway winds in and out on the 
flanks of the anticline, making a long cut in the Madison limestone at 
the sharp bend of the river. From this point the river turns back 
toward the southeast, cutting down through the formations, until it 
reaches the Belt series—the lowest in the section. Beyond this point 
the soft material of the lake beds obscures the hard rocks, and the 
hills formed by those rocks recede a mile or more from the river. 

The valley on the right (east) is wide and the hills are low as far as 
Clarkston siding, but on the opposite side of the river and rudely 
parallel with it there is a mountainous ridge, formed 
by the overturned northwest side of a syncline which 
lies parallel with the general course of the road and 
which is shown in figure 25. The southeast side of 
this fold is obscured by the lake beds, which cover all older forma- 


Clarkston. 


Elevation 4,002 feet. 
St. Paul 1,071 miles. 





1The mill at Trident has a daily ca- 
pacity of 1,600 to 1,800 barrels of cement 
and is modern in all its equipment, hav- 
ing been erected in 1910. Material most 
suitable for the manufacture of Portland 
cement contains approximately 75 per 
cent carbonate of lime, 15 per cent silica, 
and 5 to 7 per cent alumina and iron 
oxides, with very little magnesia and no 
sulphur. This combination is found in 
the Threeforks (Devonian) shale, which 
is quarried extensively along the east 
bluff of the river. The shale varies con- 
siderably in composition, that from the 
upper end of the cut being very limy and 
that from the lower end earthy and sandy. 


Rock is taken from all parts of the cut and 
then mixed until the proper proportions 
of the constituents are procured for the 
manufacture of cement. The raw mate- 
rial is burned in arevolving steel cylinder, 
with Red Lodge coal as a fuel. (For a 
description of Red Lodge coal see foot- 
note on p. 82.) The coal, crushed until 
95 per cent of it will pass through a 100- 
mesh sieve, is blown into the front ends 
of the revolving cylinders. It burns like 
gas, producing a temperature of about 
3,000° F. The burned cement is crushed 
and mixed with a little gypsum to regu- 
late the setting time and is then ready for 
the market. 


118 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


tions as with a mantle, but in the vicinity of Clarkston the Madison 
limestone is exposed, dipping to the northwest. At milepost 181 
begins a long hillside cut in the upper part of this limestone, but as 
the beds trend in nearly the same direction as the track not much of 
the formation can be seen. The cut continues to milepost 183, where 
the valley opens out. On the right the hard formations are covered 
by clay deposited in the old lake, but on the left the Madison lime- 
stone swings across the river and makes a bluff more than 100 feet 
high above the St. Paul road. Before reaching Lombard the river 
makes a sharp bend to the left (north) and enters a box canyon * in- 
the Madison limestone. (See Pl. XVIII.). The height of the walls 







Belt serves 


Pe 


FIGURE 27.—Fold and fault in the rocks near Lombard, Mont. 


of this canyon is about 300 feet, but it decreases downstream, owing 
to the fact that rocks dip in that direction. 

At Lombard the St. Paul line crosses the Northern Pacific and turns 
to the east up Sixteen Mile Creek, crossing the divide to the head of 

Musselshell River. Beyond Lombard the thick beds 
Lombard. of the Madison limestone descend rapidly and pass 
Ara tee below water level about a mile from the station. The 
St. Paul 1,077 miles. Quadrant formation does likewise, and at milepost 

186 attempts have been made to open a mine on a 
coal bed either in this formation or in the overlying Kootenai for- 
mation, but the coal is badly crushed and dirty and the project has 
been abandoned. 

A short distance beyond the coal mine there is a fault that brings 
the coal-bearing rocks into contact with the Belt series, which con- 
sists of red and green shale and argillite, very much broken and dis- 
turbed. (See fig. 27.) The Belt rocks form the surface along the 
river for about 3 miles, including the large bend which the i 


‘ 
i 


makes to theleft. At milepost 189 the railway crosses this fault again 

and an igneous mass that was intruded along the fault. The road 
then enters the Quadrant formation, the lower part of which is gong 
erally characterized by very brilliant red limestone and clay. This 


color is well shown on the right as the train rounds a sharp bend of 
cf 

1'The term box canyon is applied in many parts of the West to a narrow canyon 
having vertical or nearly vertical walls. 








oy ere 


Ss 


"Ysera ‘a[}}e9S UAa|IAL 79 SIND Aq ydeisopoyy 'YadID a[!WIUde}xXIG dn SoUR}sIP LOYs B sdeID BY} WO} MaIA 


“LNOW ‘GYYEWO71 LY SNOLSSWIT NOSIGVW JO S3SI19 





WAX Bivid +b9 NILATING AJAYNS 1V9ID01039 *S “nN 


U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 611 PLATE XIX 





A, SUMMER CAMP OF THE FLATHEAD INDIANS, A FAMILIAR SCENE IN THE JOCKO VALLEY, 
MONT. 





B. GLACIER ON THE NORTH SLOPE OF McDONALD PEAK, MONT. 


Photograph by C. D. Walcott. 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 119 


the river and it is visible up the hill slope beyond milepost 190, where 
the train crosses a spring that wells up in large volume from the 
limestone. The spring forms a beautiful pool, and the stream that 
flows from it is carried in ditches for a long distance and used to irri- 
gate the bottom land farther down the river. 

About 1,000 feet beyond milepost 191 the fault is crossed for the 
last time, and here the conditions are much like those that prevail at 
the other crossings. The rocks south of the fault carry a coal bed 
similar to the one opened near Lombard, and the formation is in 
contact with a large mass of igneous rock which on the other side 
rests against the rocks of the Belt series. The Belt rocks are con- 
siderably altered, apparently by the heat of the intruded mass, and 
some mineralization of the rocks has been the result, but although 
many prospect pits can be seen on the hillsides, little of value has 
been found. 

The hard rocks that form the high hills soon give way to the soft 
clay of the lake beds, and at Toston the valley opens out on both sides 

nearly as far as the eye can reach. The river has no 
Toston. well-marked channel, and its surface is only a few 
Elevation 3,925 tect. feet below the general level of the plain. This is the 
Be eee ba ities result of the washing in of fine silty material, in which 

the valley has been cut. The valley was originally 
formed by some downward movement in the crust of the earth (see 
p. 112) and then it was occupied by a lake, probably an extension of 
the body of water that occupied Gallatin Valley in Miocene time. 
After the lake basin was filled or drained the land was raised, and 
Missouri River has carved its present valley almost entirely in the 
soft materials laid down in the old lake. Owing to the softness of 
this material it is washed into the river at every shower and so the 
stream is supplied with more sediment than it can carry. This 
material therefore settles to the bottom, and the channel of the stream 
is kept at nearly the same level as the bottom land on either side. 

Opposite milepost 201 the hills on the left closely approach the 
river bank and for a height of 400 feet they appear to be composed 
entirely of clay deposited in the old lake. | 

The flourishing town of Townsend (see sheet 17, p. 126) is in the 
heart of a prosperous agricultural region which stretches up and down 

the river valley for a long distance. A little beyond 


Townsend. the town the railway crosses Missouri River and 
"Elevation 3,833 feet. ‘begins to climb to the top of the terrace that faces 


| 


Sr pact tose mite, the river. From this point the traveler may obtain, 
on the right, a broad view of the fertile farms stretch- 
ing across the level bottom of the Missouri and broken only by lines 


120 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


of trees through which the stream sweeps down the valley in broad, 
oraceful curves. 

On attaining the top of the terrace it is found to be a sloping plain 
which rises gradually to the foot of the mountain on the west. The 
train soon passes Bedford siding, from which the old town, established 
in 1864, can be seen on the right. This was one of the placer camps 
in the early days, and it is said that the heaps of gravel marking the 
location of the old workings are still visible. 

The train climbs steadily up the sloping surface of the smooth 
plain and at Winston the traveler can see a wide sweep of the river 

valley and the Big Belt Mountains on the right. 


Winston. Across the river on the east, at the foot of the moun- 
Elevation 4,375 feet. tain, far in the distance, is Confederate Gulch, from 
Population 127.* : 

St. Paul 1,111 miles. the sand and gravel of which more than $10,000,000 


in gold has been taken. It is said that in the autumn 
of 1866 a four-mule team hauled to Fort Benton, for transportation 
down the river, 24 tons of gold, worth $1,500,000, nearly all of which 
had been taken out at Montana Bar and vicinity, near Confederate 
Gulch. 

No hard rocks have been found at the surface near the track, and 
it is supposed that they are deeply covered by sediment deposited in 
the great lake previously described. At the summit between Beaver 
and Spokane creeks a part of the Belt series can be seen in a knob on 
the north, but its constituent formations are not distinct enough to 
be recognized from the train. Charles D. Walcott has described this 
ridge as a syncline composed of the same rocks (the Belt series) as 
those that are exposed in phate on the west and the Big Belt 
Mountains on the east. 

The railway follows in a general way the old stage road along which 
the gold seekers rushed in 1864-65 to the newly discovered Last 
Chance Gulch, where the city of Helena now stands, and along this 
road there may still be seen many old houses that resemble the tay- 
erns found along some of the famous old stage roads of the Easter | 
States. | 

On the right (north) is the broad valley of the lower part of Prickly | 
Pear Creek, its irrigated and well-tilled fields contrasting with the 
background of rugged mountains. The gently undulating upland 
upon which the railroad is built is composed of sand and gravel, 
which are exposed in every cut. Beneath this surface cover are 
Tertiary lake beds, as shown by a well a little east of East Helena, 
which passed shoots 1,200 feet of soft lake beds before reaching the 
bedrock. 





THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 121 


At East Helena there is a smelter on the left (south), established 
when this district was a large producer of silver-lead ores, but recently 
most of the ore smelted here has come from the Coeur 
d’ Alene district in Idaho. The railway on the left is 
the Great Northern line that runs from Great Falls 
by way of Helena to Butte. At East Helena the 
Northern Pacific crosses a number of long-distance 
electric-power transmission lines which extend from the large power 
plants at Great Falls, Canyon Ferry, and Hauser Lake, to Helena, 
Butte, and Anaconda, furnishing light and power not only for 
municipal purposes but also for the great mining and smelting plants 


East Helena. 


Elevation 3,902 feet. 
Population 1,139.* 
St. Paul 1,126 miles. 


at or near these towns. 


The traveler has now arrived at Helena, the capital of Montana 
and a division terminal of the railway, and while the 


Helena. 


Elevation 3,955 feet. 
Population 12,515. 
St. Paul 1,131 miles. 


——— 


Adolph Knopf.! 





1 Helena is situated in Lewis and Clark 
County at the eastern foot of the Conti- 
nental Divide. Its history dates from 
1864, when the town sprang into existence 
as the result of the finding of extraordi- 
narily rich gold-bearing placers where it 
now stands. At that time Virginia City, 
on Alder Gulch, 125 miles to the south, 
was the great center of population in 
Montana, as the discovery of gold there 
in almost fabulous quantities in the pre- 
vious year had drawn many people into 
the region. In the spring of 1864 reports 
reached Alder Gulch of a great strike in 
the Kootenai Valley, and among those who 

had taken the trail for the new Eldorado 
was a party of four prospectors under the 
leadership of John Cowan. They had 
crossed the Continental Divide west of the 
site of Helena when they learned from a 
party of returning prospectors that Koo- 
tenai was ‘‘played out.’’ They then de- 
cided to turn eastward and continue pros- 
pecting, but after a season’s fruitless effort, 
they proceeded toward Alder Gulch, de- 
termined to make one more attempt to 
discover gold on a small creek at which 
some indications of precious metal had 
been obtained on the outward journey. 
As one of them expressed it, ‘‘That little 
gulch on the Prickly Pear is our last 
chance”; and the place thus became 
known to the party as Last Chance Gulch 


engine is being shifted he may be interested in read- 
ing a sketch of the early history of the city by 


before the actual discovery of its wealth 
was made. Gold in paying quantities 
was found here about July 15, 1864. 

The news of the discovery spread 
quickly and the town grew with the 
rapidity characteristic of placer camps. 
On October 30 a meeting was held for the 
purpose of appointing commissioners to 
lay out a town, as well as to adopt a name 
for the settlement. During the following 
winter 115 cabins were erected in the 
gulch, and within two years the town 
had a population of 7,500. In 1867 the 
telegraph had been extended to Helena 
from Salt Lake City. 

Helena, aided by its situation 140 miles 
from Fort Benton, the head of navigation 
on the Missouri,soon becamethe chief mart 
of commercein Montana. Virginia City, 
then the Territorial capital, had already 
passed its zenith, but it was not until 1874 
that the seat of government was perma- 
nently removed to its northern rival. 

Gold to the value of $16,000,000 was 
taken from the gravel of Last Chance 
Gulch, mostly before 1868. In the fall 
of 1864 gold-bearing quartz veins had 
been discovered 5 miles south of Helena 
at the heads of Oro Fino and Grizzly 
gulches, branches of Last Chance Gulch. 
The finding of placer and lode gold were 
thus nearly contemporaneous. The find- 
ing of gold in its bedrock source stimu- 


122 


GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


On leaving Helena the traveler has a good view of the setting of 
the city at the mouth of Last Chance Gulch, with the prominent 


lated the quest for the precious metals all 
over the Territory. 

Silver-bearing lead ores in the vicinity 
of Wickes, Jefferson, and Clancy, 20 
miles southeast of Helena, were dis- 
covered simultaneously with the finding 
of the gold placers. The Gregory lode, 
one of the earliest finds, was located in 
1864, and here, in 1867, was built the 
second smelter established in Montana. 

By 1870 the placers had been largely 
exhausted and a period of stagnation set 
in, for lode mining could not flourish 
without adequate and cheap transporta- 
tion. The great need of the Territory at 
this time was an adequate system of rail- 
way transportation, connecting with the 
centers of civilization. Freight rates 
during the first decade were an enormous 
drain on the resources of the Territory, 
costing between $1,500,000 and $2,000,000 
every year, even after the population 
had shrunk to 18,000. The chief over- 
land transportation route was Missouri 
River, by which steamers could reach 
Fort Benton during high-water stages. 
But this period of high water lasted from 
four to six weeks only, and steamers were 
often forced to stop at the mouth of the 
Yellowstone, 450 miles distant. On the 
completion of the Union Pacific Railroad 
in 1869, much of the traffic was diverted 
to this route, Corinne, Utah, being the 
initial point for freight bound for Mon- 
tana. This, however, involved a haul 
by teams of 450 miles, and the tolls were 
oppressive, costing $37.50 for each wagon 
from Salt Lake to Helena. 

In 1883 the Northern Pacific Railway 
was completed to Helena, and the first 
train crossed the Continental Divide west 
of Helena on August 7 of that year. The 
arrival of the first regular train at Helena 
on July 4, 1883, was the occasion of a great 
celebration; but the special feature of the 
day was the departure of the first ‘‘bul- 
lion train,’”’ carrying 1,000,000 pounds of 
silver bullion from Montana’s mines. 

During the later part of 1883 the 
Helena & Jefferson Railroad was built. 
This line, which is now a part of the 


Havre-Butte branch of the Great North- 
ern Railway, connected Helena and 
Wickes, 20 milesapart. The lead smelter 
at Wickes was rebuilt and enlarged, so 
that it was for some years the most ex- 
tensive reduction plant in Montana and 
drew ores from a large area, including the 
Coeur d’ Alene district of Idaho. In 1889 
it was shut down and dismantled. The 
same fate has overtaken the many small 
smelters built in the region tributary to 
Helena, and at present the only smelter 
in operation is the East Helena plant of © 
the American Smelting & Refining Co. 
The period from 1883 to 1893 comprises 
the years during which a large output of 
silver and lead was maintained. The 
gold obtained from veins during this 
period came largely from the district at 
the heads of Oro Fino and Grizzly gulches 
and from the Marysville district, 17 miles 
northwest of Helena, which began to — 
come into prominence in 1880. At pres-_ 
ent mining activity is, on the whole, at 
a rather low ebb throughout the region — 
tributary to Helena, the annual produc- i 
tlon fluctuating around $1,000,000. The 
total yield in gold, silver, lead, and : 
copper aggregates between $150,000,000 — 
and $200,000 ,000. | 
Helena lies on the south side of a great — 
dome-shaped uplift, whose center is some- — 
where north of the Scratch Gravel Hills, i 
which can be seen on the right (north) 
from Helena. The rocks dip away from 
the center of this uplift, but there are 
many minor folds or wrinkles on the 
flanks of the dome that in places a 
produce dips in the opposite direction. 
About Helena the general dip is toward — 
the south, whereas at Mullan Pass it is- 
toward the southwest. The rocks about 
Helena are broken by a number of faults, - 
which in general ray out like the spokes 
of a wheel from the center of the uplift. 
The rocks here are much like those ex- 
posed about Threeforks, but they have 
been intruded in many places by masses — 
of igneous rock that have come up from 
below, and they have been altered by | 
the heat and pressure thus developed. 








THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTER. 123 


peak Mount Helena on the west. About 2} miles out the railway 
crosses the Great Northern line to Great Falls and Havre, and near 
this crossing the Red Mountain branch of the Northern Pacific turns 
to the south to a mining district up the valley of Tenmile Creek. 
Beyond milepost 3 Fort Harrison, the largest military post in the 
State, is seen on the left (south). 

Just west of Helena begins the long grade to the summit of Mullan 
Pass. The ascent, 1,618 feet, is accomplished in about 20 miles. 

From Clough Junction, just beyond Birdseye, a branch line leads 
northward to Marysville,' one of the most productive mining camps 
in this vicinity, situated just below the crest of the 
Continental Divide, about 17 miles northwest of 
Helena. 

The rocks in the Front Range in the vicinity of 
Mullan Pass lie on the southwest flank of the great dome whose center 
is north of the Scratch Gravel Hills. The regular southwestward dip 
of the rocks away from the center of this dome is interrupted by a 
small syncline (a downward fold of the rocks) which lies west of the 
summit and also by many intrusions of igneous rock, some of which 
are of great extent, whereas others are small and have had little effect 
upon the general structure. As the rocks on the east side of the 
summit dip toward the range, the westbound traveler passes over 


Birdseye. 


Elevation, 4,231 feet. 
St. Paul 1,139 miles. 


the several formations in ascending order. 
The rocks are poorly exposed about Birdseye and Clough Junction, 
and the traveler will have difficulty in identifying the Belt series and 


the Cambrian and Devonian formations. 


Near milepost 11 the 





1 The prosperity of the Marysville min- 
ing camp has hinged largely on the for- 
tunes of the Drumlummon mine, the 
oldest, most steadily operated, and most 
productive property of the district. The 
Drumlummon lode was discovered in 
1876 by Thomas Cruse, who had been 
working some placers along Silver Creek 
below the present site of Marysville, and 
the mine was gradually developed by 
him until 1880, when a 5-stamp mill was 
erected. In 1882 the property was sold 
to an English company known as the 
Montana Mining Co. (Ltd.) for $1,500,000. 
During the operations of this company 
$15,000,000 worth of gold and silver was 
extracted. In the early nineties the 
property became involved in protracted 
litigation, and in recent years the mine 
has been worked only intermittently. In 
1911 the property was sold to the St. 





Louis Mining & Milling Co., which com- 
menced to rehabilitate the milling plant, 
to operate the old workings, then badly 
caved, and to search for new ore bodies. 

Other notable mines in the district 
are the Belmont, Cruse, Penobscot, Bald 
Butte, Empire, and Piegan-Gloster. The 
district has produced about $30,000,000. 

The presence of ore at Marysville is 
due to a small mass of granite that has 
been forced up from below through the 
limestone and shale of the Belt series. — 
Some of the ore was probably deposited 
soon after the intrusion, but the richest 
veins are supposed to have been formed 
at a later date. The sedimentary rocks 
around the granite have been so thor- 
oughly baked that they are changed into 
hard flinty rocks known as hornstone. 
The ore occurs along the contact of the 
granite and the hornstone. 


124 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


massive light-colored Madison limestone (Carboniferous) will attract 
attention on account of its many exposures on the hill slopes. West 
of the limestone is an intrusive mass of granite (quartz monzonite), 
which is very extensive, being the same as that which constitutes 
the mountains about Boulder and the summit over which the North- 
ern Pacific passes east of Butte. It is noteworthy on account of the 
peculiar way in which it weathers. Some parts seem to be harder 
than others and less subject to the action of the weather, and these 
parts stand up as towers and pinnacles. The projecting crags are 
particularly numerous and fantastic in the vicinity of Austin. 

The railway engineers, in order to obtain a regular grade to the 
summit, found it necessary to make large loops, and the open country 
about Austin gave them the opportunity they de- 
sired. Just east of the station two stretches of track, 
one above the other, are visible on the right. The 
steepness of the grade may be appreciated by listening 
to the laboring of the engine or by looking back after making the 
sharp turn above Austin. The track here runs along the contact of 
the limestone and the granite, and such localities are generally 
favorable for the deposition of ores. Many prospect pits have been 
sunk in search of the precious metals, but apparently without success. 
Above the great loops near Austin the track winds in and out, up the 
ravines and around the spurs, steadily climbing on the Madison lime- 
stone until it arrives at the east end of the Mullan tunnel. Originally 
the road was carried over the summit, but on the completion of the 
tunnel the high lne was abandoned. The upgrade continues 
through the tunnel, which is 3,875 feet long, and 
reaches the highest pomt at Blossburg, at the far 
end. The tunnel was constructed entirely in the 
eranite, although the limestone extends to the eastern 
portal and the sandstone and shale of the Cretaceous appear only a 
short distance west of the other portal. 

The traveler has now crossed the backbone of the continent, and 
as he starts down the Pacific slope and looks back at the summit he 
is probably surprised at the smoothness of the tops and the absence 
of the rugged features which most people have, in their minds, 
associated with Mullan Pass ' and the Continental Divide. 


Austin. 


Elevation 4,771 feet. 
St. Paul 1,144 miles. 


Blossburg. 


Elevation 5,573 feet. 
St. Paul 1,151 miles. 


1 The first authentic account of a trip 
through Mullan Pass is that contained in 
the report of the Government engineers 
who, in 1853, conducted systematic ex- 
plorations in order to find the best route 
for a Pacific railroad. This expedition, 
under the command of Gov. Isaac I. 
Stevens, of Washington’ Territory, estab- 
lished field headquarters at the old mis- 


sion of St. Mary (now Stevensville), in 
the Bitterroot Valley south of Missoula. 
From this camp engineers explored the 
passes through the mountains and re- 
ported on their feasibility for railroad 
construction. 

The two men connected with this work 
who are best known to the public were 
Capt. George B. McClellan, who had 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTER. 125 


West of the summit the rock is not well exposed, partly for the 
reason that it is shale (Cretaceous) which is not hard enough to form 
ridges or knobs. This shale is the youngest rock crossed by the rail- 
way in this vicinity. It lies in the middle of the great syncline pre- 
viously referred to and constitutes the core of the fold. West of 
this place the rocks should be crossed in reverse order, but they are 
so badly faulted and cut by intrusive masses that it is very difficult 
to determine the structure. The most prominent rock on this side 
of the fold is the Madison limestone which is quarried at Calcium, 
between mileposts 26 and 27, and burned into lime. 

West of Calcium the rocks are badly broken by faults so that it 
is almost impossible to identify the various formations from the 
moving train, but near milepost 28 there is a prominent ledge of 
quartzite (Quadrant) on the right (north) which carries at its top a 
valuable bed of rock phosphate. Analysis shows this rock to contain 
from 40 to 60 per cent of phosphate of lime. This material is valuable 
as a fertilizer, and the United States Geological Survey has been 
actively engaged in the last few years in mapping deposits of such 


rock. 


charge of surveys on the Pacific coast and 
who afterward came into prominence in 
the Civil War, and Lieut. John Mullan, 
who was in charge of an exploring party 
in the Rocky Mountains and who later 
achieved local distinction through the 
building of a military road from Fort 
Benton to Walla Walla. (See p. 131.) 
Late in the summer of 1853 Lieut. 
Mullan made a scouting expedition to 
Fort Benton and from that place to 
Musselshell River by way of the Judith 
Basin. He tried to induce some Indians 
to guide him through a low pass that had 
been reported west of the place where 
Helena now stands, but the Indians were 
on a hunting trip for their winter supply 
of meat and could not be induced to join 
him. Failing in this, he ascended the 
Musselshell and crossed the Big Belt 
Mountains to the site of Helena. He 
crossed the summit west of this place on 
September 24, 1853, with little difficulty, 
through what is now known as Mullan 
Pass. Twenty years later the same route 


was followed by the locating engineers of 


the Northern Pacific and the original line 
was built across the summit at this place. 

1 The bed of phosphate rock just east of 
Elliston is over 5 feet thick and carries 


It is described by R. W. Stone below.' 


61.6 per cent of tricalcic phosphate. De- 
tailed examination has shown that within 
8 miles of Elliston, on the north of the 
railway, there is available within easy 
mining depth approximately 86,000,000 
tons of rock phosphate, or an equivalent 
of 5,440 acres underlain by a bed 4 feet 
thick. The phosphate is in a definite 
layer and is interbedded with other rocks, 
as coal is. At Elliston the phosphate bed 
is nearer the railway than elsewhere in 
western Montana. Phosphate is found in 
the same formation in the hills 5 miles 
north of Garrison; near Philipsburg, a 
town at the end of the branch south of 
Drummond; at Lime Spur; and at Mel- 
rose, 30 miles south of Butte. 

When rock phosphate was discovered in 
the Rocky Mountains a number of years 
ago, the United States Geological Survey 
undertook the determination of the geo- 
graphic extent and quantity of available 
material. It has been found that rock 
phosphate occurs in the mountains of 
Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah, 
in quantities so stupendous that when 
expressed in tons the amount is almost 
inconceivable. The estimated total in 
the areas examined in the years 1909- 
1913 is approximately 7,777,000,000 long 


126 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES, 


At Elliston the red shale of the Kootenai (Lower Cretaceous), fol- 
lowed by the dark shale of the Colorado, is visible on both sides of 
the valley. A short distance below the town there is a 
large area of dark-red lava (rhyolite) which extends 
as far as milepost 35. From this point westward for 
some distance the valley is much broader than it is 
near Elliston, and at some stage of the Tertiary period contained a 
lake. The sediment deposited in this lake can be seen on the right 
(north) along the track as far as Avon (see sheet 18, p. 134), except 
where a sharp ridge of rhyolite east of the town 
extends from the right and just crosses the railway 
track. Beyond Avon Little Blackfoot River enters 
a rugged canyon, at first in red rhyolite and then in 
thin-bedded red sandstone of the Belt series (Algonkian). These 
rocks continue a short distance beyond milepost 41 and are separated 
from the Cretaceous rocks to the west by a small mass of igneous 
rock (andesite) that has been intruded along the fault. 

The lowest formation of the Cretaceous and the first to be seen in 
traveling westward is the Kootenai, which is visible on the left. 
This formation, characterized by bands of bright-red shale, is only a 
few hundred feet thick and is overlam by Upper Cretaceous rocks 
which extend continuously from this place to Garrison. This over- 
lying formation is undoubtedly the same as the Colorado shale far- 
ther east, but its composition is different. In the eastern localities it 
is mostly a dark shale with only here and there a bed of thin sand- 
stone, but along the Little Blackfoot it is composed of a succession 


Elliston. 


Elevation 5,061 feet. 
St. Paul 1,160 miles. 


Avon. 


Elevation 4,702 feet. 
St. Paul 1,169 miles. 


of beds of sandstone and shale with sandstone predominating. 


tons, or triple the quantity of anthracite | 


mined in Pennsylvania in the last cen- 
tury. When all the known deposits in 
these four States have been examined in 
detail, the estimated available tonnage 
will considerably exceed these figures. 
The most noteworthy characteristic of 
western rock phosphate is its oolitic tex- 
ture. (Oolite, from the Greek, meaning 
egg stone, is applied to certain limestones 
whose texture suggests the roe of a fish.) 
The rock is composed of rounded grains 
ranging in size from the tiniest specks to 
bodies half an inch or more in diameter. 
The freshly mined rock usually has a 
dark-brown or black color, but the weath- 
ered material found along the outcrop 1s 
a light or dark gray with a whitish to 
bluish coating that has a tendency to 
concentrate in a netlike pattern. Rock 
phosphate is appreciably heavier than 
ordinary limestone, and some varieties 





give off a fetid odor when struck with a 
hammer. 

On account of the high cost of trans- 
portation the present market of the west-— 
ern phosphates is confined to the Pacific” 
coast States. In 1914 the western ‘phos-— 
phate field furnished 5,030 tons, valued 
at $15,488, or an average price of $3.08 a 
ton. This is about one-fifth of 1 per cent 
of the total phosphate production of the 
United States, which in 1914 amounted to — 
2,734,043 long tons, valued at $9,608,041. 

Phosphate rock is converted into more 
soluble phosphates for use in the manu-— 
facture of fertilizers by treatment with 
sulphuric acid. As this acid can be made 
from smelter fumes which ordinarily go 
to waste, the proximity of phosphate de- 
posits to the great smelting centers of the 
West is likely to prove beneficial not only ; 
to the miners of phosphate but also to the 
smelter men and the farmers, 


SHEET No. 17 


° 
Hhl so’ 


MONTANA 


| 


| 


| 
| 
| 
| 
| 





US ae 


mn mn 
ae) 
38 
re 
»~k as 
Nom O DD 
So. ee 
Ea OC Le 
Q 
ge 553 
sf asf 
> & 532 
= Ei) foe 
g as 
#3 & 238 
aay es a 
rey morte 
<& 
al 
Ss 
rs +s 
= en 
eB wah 
< - oe E 
Z. Be SES 











Carboniferous 

Devonian 
zine als brian 

Algonkian 





800 
1, 


3,300 





Rt ye oy me = 
A Al eee &, ~ 


\drant formation) 
heet Vo/6) 


series) 











GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 


OF THE 


NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 


From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 


Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
information collected with the assistance of this company 


UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 
David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 


1915 


Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 
_Jower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 
Sheet of that name. 


BULLETIN 611 





Thickness 
in feet 
A Stream deposits (alluvium) Quaternary 
B Sand, gravel, and voleanie ash (lake beds) 1,200 Late Tertiary 
Dark shale and sandstone (Colorado shale) 1,500 Upper Cretaceous 
! . E 4Sandstone and red shale (Kootenai formation) 1,500 Lower Cretaceous 
- Bi RP aie Sng OAR Impure limestone and quartzite (E]lis formation) 430 Jurassic ee 





SHEET No. 17 _ 



















a ra 


112° Ge 


EXPLANATION 





I}}%s0° MONTANA 





H Sandstone and impure limestone (Quadrant formation) 800 Sea Sah cee 
Massive blue limestone (‘ Madison) 1,000 


K_ Limestone and shale 2,700 «Devonian 
Cambrian 
L Shale, sandstone, and limestone (Belt series) 8,300  Algonkian 


R_ Lava flows, rhyolite 
S Granite, intrusive 
T Lava flows, andesite 


CCR CS 
RSSXV“7“°~ 4 
LUG y 


C 


NC 

















— 








ee 


(Sheet Va /8) 


= 






wae 
































EG ) 
A 70 / Ee" 4 IS Dee : be aN 
TA Ut ~~ Seale 500,000 V/ : 
FO" Approximately 8 miles to | inch | \ : 
5 10 15 20Miles rd} 7 Pie 
en 








f \ ee 
ir eit 4 ‘ 
j envilles \ 
Towns nd 
€4.3833\ 




















20 
| Contour interval 200 feet OV wiltiHes 3 af ( [i 
a) 1S ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL of We Py ( | HEX. 
; ; \ | t. } 
aes | The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are-shown every IO miies ¢\ _ \ ) ‘ 
= \ eye \ 
FQ z a ‘4 The crossties on the railroads are spaced ! mile apart (f° pis = E 
| {2°so0° ap Ran s Cir 8, ie a a | {2 Ope Sie se ee 
(Sheet Vo/b) 


ENGRAVED 4ND PRINTED Bly THE US -GECLOGIGAL SURYRY 





THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE, L2H 


The Cretaceous beds dip gently in various directions, but in general 
they lie nearly fat and constitute the bottom of a great sag or syn- 
cline 15 to 20 miles wide. Although this syncline is flat and broad, 
it has been subjected to much minor folding or wrinkling, which 

: locally has tilted the beds or even broken them, where the pressure 
has been more severe. | 

The Cretaceous rocks are much softer than the older rocks, and 
ae weathering has reduced them to low hills and 
ee rounded slopes that are a marked feature of the 

“St. Paul 1182 miles. topography in the vicinity of Garrison. At this vil- 
lage the old main line is joined by the more recent 
line through Butte. 
LINE WEST OF GARRISON. 


The famous Deer Lodge Valley, which is so conspicuous on the Butte 
line, continues west of Garrison as far as Drummond, but for some 
distance it is not apparent from the train. When viewed from some 

commanding eminence the valley is distinctly outlined, but when 
seen from the river level the immediate bluffs conceal and obscure the 
background, so that the traveler will probably fail to recognize the 
broader, more open valley in the bottom of which the stream has cut 
its present channel. The broad valley is underlain by soft Creta- 
ceous rocks similar to those which border it on both lines above their 
junction at Garrison. As explained on page 115, the bottom of the 
valley bulged up north of the place where Garrison is now located. 
Clark Fork had already established a meandering course on the sedi- 
ments, filling the old lake basin, and when the bulge occurred the 
stream simply persisted in its old course, cutting deeply into the 
underlying harder rocks and preserving allits former sinuosities. The 
railway can not follow the swings of the stream, because they are too 
short, so it strikes straight through, tunneling wherever necessary. 
The St. Paul road lies near the Northern Pacific on the left. 

Halfway between mileposts 53 and 54 there is a sign on the left 
which calls attention to the fact that here on September 8, 1883, was 
driven the last spike that established the connection between the 
eastern and the western ends of the Northern Pacific Railway. The 
event was celebrated in an elaborate manner, and prominent people, 
including William M. Evarts (as orator), Henry M. Teller, Secretary 
of the Interior, and Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, were present. The com- 
pletion of the Union Pacific Railroad, in 1869, had been celebrated by 
similar ceremonies at Promontory, west of Ogden, Utah, and the 
gathering in Montana marked the completion of the second great 
transcontinental line. Since that time other roads have been con- 
structed across the continent without creating any marked attention, 
but these two roads were the pioneers and the completion of each 
was an event of nation-wide importance. 


128 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


The rocks north of Garrison are mostly of Cretaceous age and cor- 
respond to the Colorado shale, which is exposed in the bluff south of 
Billings. At Billings the formation consists of dark shale containing 
many marine fossils, but about Garrison it is composed largely of 
sandstone, conglomerate, and tuff, and no marine fossils have been 
found in it. The kind of material composing the formation and the 
character of the fossils indicate shore conditions and fresh or brackish 
water, instead of the salt water that prevailed farther east. North of 
Garrison the Cretaceous rocks are cut by igneous rocks that have 
been forced up through them in great masses and in narrow dikes. 
The most prominent igneous mass that can be seen from the train is 
one that crosses the track at milepost 56. This rock has been quar- 
ried for material with which to riprap the slopes of the roadbed 
where it is washed by the stream. At milepost 57 there is a high, 
rocky wall on the left composed of sandstone in which there is the 
standing stump of a tree. It is now sulicified but remains as a mute 
record of a time, long ago, when this country, now so barren of tim- 
ber, was covered with trees several feet in diameter. About halfway 
between mileposts 57 and 58 is the mouth of Gold Creek, the creek 
upon which gold was first discovered in Montana.' The placers 
are at Pioneer, 5 miles up the creek, and it is reported that at least 
$12,000,000 has been taken from them. They are still producing in a 
small way. Cretaceous rocks form the surface here, but they are 
generally soft and give rise to low hills and gently rounded slopes. 

At the station of Gold Creek the valley floor merges into the 
rolling upland that stretches far northeastward to the foot of the 
Garnet Range, which is composed of Paleozoic lime- 
stones and quartzites. At milepost 61 the valley 
widens, and 2 miles farther west the harder rocks 
disappear and the valley floor and the slopes are 
composed solely of the lake beds, which mantle all the 
older formations. The lake beds continue to milepost 68, where the 
Cretaceous rock is again visible on the north. 


Gold Creek. 


Elevation 4,20: feet. 
Population 730.* 
St. Paul 1,187 miles. 








‘It is reported that gold was first discov- 
ered in Montana in 1852 by a half-breed 
named Frang¢ois, but better known to his 
associates as Benetsee. On his return 
from the gold fields of California Benetsee 
began prospecting on what is now known 
as Gold Creek, in Powell County. He 
found some gold, but did not obtain 
enough to pay for operations. 

The finding of gold at this locality soon 
became known among the few mountain- 
eers in the country, and in 1856 a party on 
their way from the Bitterroot Valley, 
where they had spent the winter trading 


with the Indians, visited Gold Creek and 
found more gold than Benetsee had been 
able to obtain, but not enough to induce 
them to remain. . 

Desultory prospecting was done in the 
years following the visit of this party, but 
without any definite result until 1862, 
when rich pay gravel was discovered. 
Soon after this the extraordinarily rich 
placers of Alder Gulch, at Virginia City 
(1863), and Last Chance Gulch, at Helena 
(1864), were discovered, and these so far 
overshadowed the deposit on Gold Creek 
that it was almost forgotten. 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 129 


Drummond lies at the intersection of two very broad, flat valleys, 
one along the main line of the Northern Pacific and 
Vinee ore the other leading off to the southwest along a branch 
Population 383.* line running to the mining district of Philipsburg. 
St. Paul 1,200 miles. ‘These valleys are filled with lake sediments, which 
show that a great lake existed here in Tertiary time. 

In the region above Drummond the rocks form a great flat syncline, 
with the Cretaceous occupying a wide area in the middle. In this 
central region the rocks were only slightly disturbed, but near Drum- 
mond, on the margin of the basin, the rocks are thrown into great folds 
which carry the limestone and quartzite beds of the Carboniferous and 
Devonian high into the mountain tops. In fact the Garnet Range 
consists of a series of such folds, trending in a northwesterly direction, 
which become more and more complicated toward the northwest. 
Clark Fork cuts into the foothills of the range west of Drummond, 
and the great folds can. be seen and studied from the moving train. 

From Drummond the railway follows closely the axial line of a large 
syncline for a distance of about 7 miles. The youngest rocks exposed 


Drummond. 





great basin, and the Madison limestone is folded back upon itself in the hill on the south. 


in this trough are the bright-red and maroon shale and sandstone of 
the Kootenai. The rim of the syncline is formed of the Madison lime- 
stone, which 3 miles west of Drummond forms conspicuous cliffs on 
the south and can be seen on the north in the tops of the high wooded 
hills about 2 miles distant from the track. 

To a point about 3 miles below Drummond the valley is still called 
the Deer Lodge Valley, but at that pomt the walls close in, especially 
on the left, and thence down to Missoula it is known as Hell Gate 
Canyon. It is probable that this name originated in the vicmity of 
Missoula, but it is now applied to the whole of the canyon. 
~ At the entrance to the canyon, near milepost 74, the Madison lime- 
stone caps the high hill on the south and makes a picturesque setting 
for the stream and valley at its foot. This cliff can best be seen from 
a point near milepost 75 late in the afternoon, when the slanting rays 
of the sun bring out every detail of the towers and pinnacles of the 
rugged cliff. The limestone appears to lie horizontal, just as it was 
laid down on the bed of the ocean, but when studied carefully it is 
found to be turned completely over, as shown in figure 28, The over- 

95558 °—Bull. 611—15——9 


1380 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


turning of the side of the syncline was probably produced by a strong 
thrust from the southwest which not only caused the rocks to fold in 
the form of a trough, but continued and pushed the rocks composing 
the side of the fold far toward the middle of the bas. 

Below the cliff of limestone the stream is very tortuous, winding 
from side to side of the synclinal basin in which it is flowing. The 
railway originally followed all the crooks and bends of the stream, 
but now it pursues nearly a straight course, cutting through the 
points and bridging the stream, or diverting its course where diversion 
could be accomplished readily. The deep cuts across the projecting 
points in the bends of the stream afford an excellent opportunity 
to see the dark-red shale of the Kootenai formation, which is exposed 
in the middle of the trough. 

At milepost 79 the river, accompanied by the railway, turns to the 
southwest and cuts across the rim of the syncline, which is made up 
of hard, massive limestones and quartzites (Carboniferous). As 
these rocks always make rugged and picturesque canyon walls, it 
is well for the traveler who wishes to obtain a good view to be ready, 
as it takes only a minute or two to pass through the interesting part 
of the gorge. Just below milepost 79 the railway crosses the Quad- 
rant quartzite, which makes little showing on the hill slopes. This 
is soon passed, and then the massive layers of the Madison come 
into view. As the course of the road changes more toward the north- 
west, the limestone beds can be seen rising in great cliffs on the left, 
but beyond another bend to the west they appear in all their rug- 
gedness in the wall on the right. The limestone, stained red or 
rather splotched with red, rises on both sides to a height of 500 or 
600 feet; and the rock is carved into the most fantastic shapes, such 
as pillars, needles, towers, and minarets—in fact almost every form 
the imagination can conceive. The combination of rugged forms 
and striking colors gives to this canyon a character of its own that 
would be hard to duplicate in any other region. The limestone on 
the southwest rests against a mass of lava (andesite), which covers 
much of the country southwest of the river and is exposed in its 
bluffs in the vicinity of the next station, Bearmouth. 

Opposite Bearmouth a small stream, Bear Gulch, enters the river 
from the right. Here gold-bearing gravel was discovered in October, 

1865, by a party under the leadership of Jack Rey- 
Bearmouth. nolds. In the two years following its discovery 
as oe fost. it produced $1 000,000, and later the yield was 
St. Paul 1,210 miles, Increased to many times that amount. The placers 

are no longer worked, but it is said that gold-bearing 
quartz veins have been found which may some day bring new activity 
to this region. : 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. Loti 


West of Bearmouth the lava forms the walls of the canyon for a 
distance of 2 miles to the mouth of Harvey Creek, a small stream 
entering the river from the south. Opposite and a little below the 
mouth of this creek there is a syncline extending to the northwest. 
The rocks in the middle of this basin are the red shale and sandstone 
of the Kootenai, rimmed about by lower and older formations, the 
lowermost of which are the limestones and quartzites of the Carbon- 
iferous. 

About Blakeley siding and for several miles west of it the rocks 
on both sides of the canyon are red shale or argillite and red sandstone 
belonging to the Spokane shale (Algonkian). ‘This is the first appear- 
ance in the westward journey down Clark Fork of this red argillite, 
which makes most of the walls of Hell Gate Canyon from Blakeley 
siding to Missoula. 

Blakeley siding is well within Hell Gate Canyon, the principal 
highway by which the white man m the early days and the Indian 
before him crossed this mountainous region. The first permanent 
wagon road in this part of the country was built in this canyon in 
1859-1862, and is known from its builder as the Mullan road. Its 
construction is intimately associated with the early development of 


the country, and a more extended account is given below. 


1 Hell Gate Canyon is one of the great 
natural thoroughfares of the continent. 
Through this canyon the Flatheads and 
other tribes of the West journeyed to the 
plains annually to hunt the buffalo, and 
through its winding trails crept the 
stealthy Blackfeet on their numerous 
forays against their more peaceful neigh- 
bors on the west. 

In 1853, when the Government engi- 
neers were exploring the various passes of 
the Rocky Mountains to find the most 
_ feasible route for a Pacific railroad, they 
also planned for a military road which 
should connect Fort Benton, then the 
head of navigation on the Missouri and 
the most prominent post on the east side 
of the mountains, with Fort Walla Walla, 
which was of equal prominence on the 
Pacific slope. Lieut. John Mullan was 
the most ardent advocate of a military 
road, but he was ably seconded by Gov. 
Stevens, the leader of the expedition. 

The location of such a road east of the 
Bitterroot Valley (Missoula) was easily 
determined, but the country west of that 
valley afforded the greatest obstacles, 
so in 1854 Mullan explored three possible 





routes across the Coeur d’ Alene Mountains 
in order to determine the best location. 
These were (1) Clark Fork, Lake Pend 
Oreille, and Spokane (the town of Spokane 
was not then in existence); (2) the St. 
Regis and Coeur d’Alene valleys; and (3) 
the Lolo trail. 

Lewis and Clark had already passed 
over the Lolo trail and had given so 
graphic a picture of its difficulties that it 
was not very seriously considered by 
Mullan, who devoted most of his energies 
to the other two routes. The route first 
mentioned, along which the Northern 
Pacific Railway was subsequently built, 
was partly explored by Mullan in 1854, 
but unfortunately the attempt was made 
in May, when the snow in the mountains 
was melting rapidly, and he had great 
difficulty in crossing the streams. He. 
persisted, however, on his course down | 
Olark Fork until he reached Lake Pend 
Oreille (pronounced locally pon-do-ray), 
but here he found it practically impassa- 
ble on account of high water, so he reluc- 
tantly gave up this route as impracticable. 
Mullan then explored the St. Regis and 
Coeur d’Alene valleys and decided that 


132 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


Beyond Blakeley siding the canyon walls are composed of the 
Spokane shale (Algonkian), and its dark-red color is visible at many 
places. It is well exposed in a cut by the side of the road, at mile- 
post 87, in a projecting point known as Medicine Tree Hill. 

Some Paleozoic limestone and quartzite are to be observed on the 
right (north) at intervals for the next 5 or 6 miles, and then the walls 
of the canyon are made up almost entirely of the red Spokane shale. 
The Algonkian rocks are supposed to be the oldest sedimentary rocks 


exposed in the Rocky Mountain region. 


these afforded the best route. In select- 
ing the Cceur d’Alene route he was 
influenced by its directness and by the 
fact that the summit is not especially 
rugged nor difficult of access, but he 
failed to realize the severity of the winters 
on this exposed mountain pass. That in 
later years he regretted this choice is 
shown by the following statement: ‘‘I 
have always exceedingly regretted that 
it was my fortune to examine this route 
[Clark Fork] at so unfavorable a period, 
for I have been convinced by later data 
that it possessed an importance, both as 
regards climate and railroad facilities, 
enjoyed by no other line in the Rocky 
Mountains between latitudes 43° and 
49°.”> The building of the Northern 
Pacific Railway down Clark Fork seemed 
to justify his conclusion, but it must be 
remembered that at a later date this same 
company built a branch road over almost 
the exact route selected by Mullan up 
St. Regis River, and that only a few years 
ago the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 
Railway Co. built its main line along 
nearly the same route. This all goes to 
show that railway building since the days 
of Lieut. Mullan, or even since the build- 
ing of the Northern Pacific main line, has 
changed, and that now directness of line 
may be the controlling condition, and the 
crossing of mountain ranges a mere 
incident. 

Although explorations for a military 
road were made and a route selected in 
1854, actual construction was delayed 
several years. Mullan was on the ground 
ready to begin work in that year, under 
general orders from the War Department, 
but trouble with the Indians throughout 
eastern Oregon and Washington pre- 


Very few fossils occur in 


vented, and he passed another year with- 
out accomplishing any work on his 
favorite project. 

In March, 1859, Congress appropriated 
$100,000 for the construction of the road, 
and work was begun by Mullan at Walla: 
Walla on June 28 of the same year. The 
road extended northeastward from Walla 
Walla to the Coeur d’Alene Valley. The 
first year the road was cleared, so as to be 
passable by wagon, from Walla Walla to 
the headwaters of the St. Regis. The 
next spring Mullan began work where it 
was stopped the previous autumn and 
pushed the construction up Clark Fork to 
Missoula and then up Hell Gate Canyon 
as far as Garrison. From this point it 
followed Little Blackfoot River along the 
original line of the Northern Pacific to 
Mullan Pass, down on the east side to the 
vicinity of Helena, and thence north to 
Fort Benton. By the end of the season 
the party reached the eastern terminus, 
but it is needless to say that this great 
stretch of road was little more than a trail, 
and much work was needed before it was 
really passable. 

The summers of 1861 and 1862 were 
spent by Mullan in going back over the 
line building bridges, making cuts where 
the canyons were narrow, and relocating 
the road about Coeur d’Alene Lake, where 
the ground proved to be soft and marshy. 

The road thus built had a length of 624 
miles through the roughest part of the 
Rocky Mountains and cost $230,000. I¢ 
was never used to any extent for mili- 
tary purposes and soon fell into decay, 
except where it was kept up by the local 
authorities. About 20 years later it 
was supplanted by the Northern Pacific 
Railway. 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTR. 133 


them, but those that have been found are fresh-water forms, indicat- 
ing that the sediment forming the rocks was deposited in a lake or 
lakes. 

Many of the beds of sandstone are beautifully ripple marked, show- 
ing that the water in which the sand was deposited was so shallow 
that the waves piled up the sand in ripples or ridges. They also show 
cracks, indicating that at times the water receded, allowing the 
material composing the bottom of the lake to dry and crack irregu- 
larly, as mud deposited along a stream to-day will crack when it 
dries. Another indication of shallow water, or of no water at all, 
is the preservation of the prints of raindrops, which, after the millions 
of years that have elapsed since these rocks were mud on the shore 
of some lake, indicate the direction from which the storm came that 
drove along the coast. This may not be of great importance, but it 
illustrates how well nature has preserved the record of events of that 
far-off time, if only we will learn to interpret it. 

The Spokane shale is well exposed in the portals of the tunnel 
between mileposts 94 and 95 and can be seen to good advantage from 

the observation car. From Bonita to Missoula the 
Bonita. walls of the canyon are steep and high but not particu- 
Berean paiee larly rugged. They are composed almost entirely of 

the Spokane shale, which supports a much heavier 
erowth of pine trees than the other formations. This is particularly 
noticeable on the south side of the canyon, or on the northward facing 
walls. ‘The difference in the vegetation on the two sides is due to the 
difference in the amount of moisture conserved. The northward 
facing slope is not exposed to the direct rays of the sun, and hence the 
moisture in the soil is not readily evaporated and trees thrive better 
than they do on the opposite side. 

Below Clinton the character of the canyon is much the same as it 

is above that place. The hills range from 1,500 to 
Clinton. 2,000 feet in height above the stream, and the 
Elevation 3,490 feet. slopes are everywhere strewn with the débris of the 
St. Paul 1,231 miles. 

red shale of the Spokane. 

Bonner (see sheet 19, p. 144), at the mouth of Blackfoot River, is 

noted for its lumbering industry, beg the location 
Bonner. of some large sawmills. The river has been dammed 
Elevation 3,321 feet. below the mouth of the Blackfoot, affording about 
mee og 4,000 horsepower, which is converted into electricity 
‘and transmitted to Missoula and the towns of the Bitterroot 
Valley. 

At Bonner the traveler again comes upon the route of Lewis and 
Clark, for on his return trip Lewis ascended Hell Gate Canyon as far 
as this point and then turned to the north up Blackfoot River. Six 


134 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


miles west of Bonner, Hell Gate Canyon terminates abruptly,’ and as 
short distance beyond this termination is situated the flourishing town 


of Missoula. 


From the station at Missoula a good view may be obtained of the 
steep side of the valley, which rises like a mountain on the east. The 
knob north of Hell Gate Canyon is Jumbo Mountain, © 


Missoula. 


Elevation 3,223 feet. Mountain. 
Population 12,869. 


St. Paul 1,248 miles. 


and the larger mass south of the canyon is University 
The slopes of these mountains are free 
from trees and brush, and on looking closely it will be 


seen that they are marked by many horizontal lines 
(fig. 29) which become very prominent when they are covered by a 







a ~ 
“ Ss se ore oe 
eae = AN s —_ 


FIGURE 29.—Horizontal beach lines on Mount Jumbo, as seen 


from railway station at Missoula, Mont. 


mountains. 


Gx 
SSS 


Sea 


shght fall ofsnow. These 
lines have attracted gen- 
eral attention, and many 
theories regarding their 
origin have been sug- 
gested. Some have sup- 
posed that they are stock 
trails, but it is now gener- 
ally agreed that they are 
undoubtedly beach lines 
cut by a body of water that 
occupied the broad valley 
in which Missoula is situ- 
ated and also many other 
valleys in this part of the 


aa 

hag 

WL 

inal bh 

q W Ty 
1 





According to the markings on the valley walls, the water 


must have been nearly 1,000 feet deep where Missoula now stands.? 
Missoula, one of the most important towns of western Montana, is 


situated on a broad plain at the lower end of Bitterroot Valley, which 
extends southward for a distance of at least 75 miles. It is the junc- 
tion of a branch line of the railway which runs up the Bitterroot Valley 
to Stevensville, Hamilton, and Darby. At Missoula is located the 
University of Montana, and a little below the town, on the opposite 


1 The east wall of the valley at Missoula 
is so abrupt and regular that it at once 
suggests a fault—that is, the mountain has 
risen with relation to the valley or the 
valley has dropped with relation to the 
mountain. Farther south, as Waldemar 
Lindgren has shown, the Bitterroot Val- 
ley is bounded on the west by a great 
fault along which the rocks of the moun- 
tain have been raised or those on the east 
depressed, forming the long, straight 
Bitterroot Valley. The effect of the 
movement on these two fault planes, if 


they are continuous along both sides of 
the valley, is the depression of the block 
of strata between them forming the floor 
of the Bitterroot Valley, as illustrated in 
figure 23 (p. 112). As the hard rocks 
under the valley are poorly or not at all 
exposed, the evidence of the fault at 
Missoula is to be found only in the topog- 
raphy. 

The horizontal beach lines that are so 
well shown along the railway at Missoula, 
in the Jocko Valley, and at Plains, below 
Trout Creek, in the valley of Clark Fork, 


SHEET No. 18 


MONTANA 


3 


47 


20Miles 


30Kilometers 


25 


B Helmville 


LEVEL 


very 10 miles 









WS) 
eos “ar D2 Ie cE — } 
D \\ a — 





SOR SRB 
ING aA 


: ie 
MANGUNY, SONI 
SAN NAA Ce) 
AO ob Vii i I At 7 }e_ 

OS i ALP |< Sm 








\ 
) 
iS 
$5 
——. 


p) 





Ak 


S\N 
PES 
} ~ 








Sheet No /6 











Eww h: 


FNS O/ 
ae Aa, ul Wa : 
(Gy es WELZ SRS 
SR SWZ OA 
NS WARS (A ASE ON 
Wes RO \! N\ " Hy je 
Vo AN Ne 
ote an Eh) ihe 
Maat WEES j 


ny 
\ a 
SAGs 
SNA; 


aA 
v A 
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— 





AS 
SS: y iy 





le apart 





survey 


ENGRAVED AND PRINTED BY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAI, 


BULLETIN Gli eg : | | SHEET No. 18 


113"30' . 3° MONTANA 


47 | | 












=. 


IRS 


1 
Scale 500,000 
Approximately 8 miles to | inch 


\ _ 5 10 \p 20Miles 


1o 10 15 20 25 30Kilometers 


Contour interval 200 feet 
ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL @Helmville 


The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown very 10 miles 


The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 








ON = SX 
a Wis 
Sree 
aes 





Z 
Me 
(Van 















a 


Q 
AYY 
WY) 







Z » 


AY 







ig 
\ 
Sheet No /9 


Bo 










































EXPLANATION 
Thickness 
ee, Os in feet 
Zi Ly . . 
Z Yj A Stream deposits (alluvium) Quaternary 
tf D B Clay, voleanie ash, and sand (lake beds) 8,000 Middle Tertiary 
Y 
Cy ao C Shale and sandstone (Colorado formation) 1,500 Upper Cretaceous 
Z . 
48 ap zl & D Red shale and sandstone (Kootenai formation) 1,500 Lower Cretaceous 
| Q vn Impure limestone and quartzite (Ellis 
. , ‘ formation) 430 Jurassic 
y STONE : ¥ : 
SZ | Mais ; Sandstone and impure limestone (Quadrant ; 
y 6B gh Negor ies lack emt aes H formation) 800$ Carboniferous 
¢ Massive blue limestone (Madison) 1,000) 
_K_ Limestone and shale 2,700 poe 
L Red sandstone and shale (Spokane as : 
114° formation of the Belt series) 3,000 Algonkian 
MAP OF WESTERN MONTANA. SHOWING DISTRIBUTION OF KNOWN TERTIARY LAKE BEDS 
THESE INDICATE THE FORMER PRESENCE OF MANY SMALL LAKES OR A FEW LARGE LAKES WITH NUMEROUS Q Lava flows. basalt 
BRANCHES EXTENDING INTO THE MOUNTAIN VALLEYS Be Lavactows, Phyolite 
i S Granite, intrusive 
T Lava flows, andesite and dacite < 
| V_ Diorite, intrusive e 
Ae) 
-) 
ve 
E e 





To Se eee eke 


Sheet No /€ 


Env eed ean ices OPM IueRE ees 


Sen ec see 


ENGRAVED AND PRINTED BY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


mid 
a4) 














THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 135 


side of the river, is Fort Missoula, one of the principal military posts 


in the mountain region. 


and also off the railway in the Bitterroot 
Valley and across the divide north of 
Ravalli were undoubtedly formed by a 
continuous body of water that at some 
recent geologic date occupied these val- 
leys. On account of the excellent devel- 
opment of the beaches of this lake at Mis- 
souls, it has been named Lake Missoula. 
(See map on sheet 19, p. 144.) 

Lake Missoula must have occupied the 
valley at a very recent date, for the faint 
shore lines would have been entirely 


obliterated if the lake had been here long . 


ago, and little or nothing would have 
remained to tell of its existence. How- 
ever, although it was geologically recent, 
it existed many, many years ago, probably 
long before the Indians began to roam over 
these hills and mountains. 

Lakes are transient features and are due 
to some interference with the normal 
development of the drainage system of the 
region. What then occurred in this 
region to change the drainage and to cause 
the ponding of the streams at Missoula to a 
depth of 1,000 feet? The altitude of the 
highest beach line that has been observed 
is about 4,200 feet at Stevensville, in the 
Bitterroot Valley south of Missoula, and 
as the altitude of Missoula is about 3,200 
feet, the depth of the water must have 
been about 1,000 feet. 

When the beaches are traced north- 
ward and westward, they are found to 
terminate just in front of the southern- 
most extent of the great glacier that came 
down from the north. As the beaches 
thus show a definite relation to the ice 
front and as they seem to correspond in 
time with the glacial epoch, it seems alto- 
gether probable, if not certain, that Lake 
Missoula was due to the damming of Clark 
Fork by the ice. The great glaciers that 
swept down from Canada at this time are 
known to have occupied all the mountain 
valleys to the north, filling them to depths 
which range from a few hundred to per- 
haps thousands of feet. One lobe of this 


~ mass of ice came down the Flathead Val- 


ley as far as the Northern Pacific Railway 
at Dixon, and another down the broad 


valley from Bonners Ferry, on the Koo- 
tenai, by Sandpoint to the vicinity of 
Spokane. The intermediate valleys in 
the Cabinet Range have not been exam- 
ined in sufficient detail to say whether or 
not they were also filled with ice, but it 
seems probable that at least some of them 
afforded avenues for the southward flow 
of small tongues of ice nearly or quite to 
Clark Fork. 

All the evidence points to the conclu- 
sion that the main valley of Clark Fork in 
the vicinity of Pend Oreille Lake was 
effectively blockaded by the ice, and that 
the low valleys to the north were shut off 
as avenues of escape for the waters of the 
upper valleys. Such a dam would nec- 
essarily be inconstant, allowing the depth 
of water to fluctuate considerably, and 
consequently many shore lines would be 
cut on the rocks; but none of them would 
be strongly marked, as the water was not 
held long enough at any one level to per- 
mit deep cutting. The shifting of the 
positions of the several ice lobes would 
also tend to produce a difference in level of 
the outlet and a corresponding change in 
level of the surface of the water. As the 
glacial epoch waned the ice probably 
grew thinner and thinner and the lake 
shrank in a corresponding manner, until 
at last the present outlet was opened and 
the water disappeared. 

Although the general history of Lake 
Missoula is about as sketched, a number of 
facts now known indicate that many modi- 
fications may be necessary when the final 
history of the lake is written. The most 
difficult to harmonize with the theory 
given above is the difference in the height 
of the beach lines in the several valleys. 
Thus at Stevensville, in the Bitterroot 
Valley, they extend up the valley wall to 
an altitude of 4,200 feet; north of Dixon 
beach lines are well developed up to 3,950 
feet; at Plains they can be traced up to an 
altitude of 3,100 feet, but above that level 
the hills break away and it seems certain 
that the uppermost terraces are not repre- 
sented; near Trout Creek they apparently 
cease at 3,500 feet; and on St. Regis River 


GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


136 


The first permanent settlement in this region was made in 1841, 
when Father De Smet founded the Mission of St. Mary at the point 
where Stevensville is now located. He established the mission for the 
Salish or Flathead Indians, who then occupied the valley but who later — 
were transferred farther north to a reservation which is crossed by the 
Northern Pacific in the vicinity of the towns of Ravalli and Dixon. 
Father De Smet was joined in 1843 by Father Anthony Ravalli, who 
labored faithfully with the Indians throughout a long and busy life. 
These two priests had great influence on the early settlement of this 
region, and their services have been commemorated by the naming of 
towns in their honor. 

It was to the entrance of the canyon above Missoula that the name ~ 
Hell Gate was first applied. The Blackfeet Indians, residing on the 
plains east of the mountains, were noted fighters; and many were the 
forays they made through this canyon on the more peaceful Flatheads 
on the west. The French traders and trappers, on account of the 
devastation wrought by the marauding parties that emerged from the 
mouth of the canyon, called it Porte d’Enfer, which may be translated 
Hell Gate. 

The isolation of Missoula in the early days and its distance from the 
outside world are well illustrated by the slowness of returns from some 
of the elections; thus it is reported that the settlers in the Bitterroot 
Valley who voted in the presidential election of November, 1856, did 
not know the result until April, 1857, when an Oregon paper describing 


how Buchanan had been elected was brought into the valley. 


no beach lines have been found, but ex- 
tensive terraces that probably record the 
height of the water and should be corre- 
lated with the uppermost beach lines in 
other valleys are well developed at 
Haugan and Saltese, at an altitude of 
3,450 feet. It is true that some of these 
altitudes have not been accurately deter- 
mined, but there seems to be a gradual 
decrease in the altitude of the terraces 
toward the northwest that indicates a 
depression of the earth’s crust in that 
direction since the beaches were formed, 
or arise in the surface toward the south- 
east. Such a movement is also indicated 
by the recent canyon cut by Clark Fork 
between Missoula and the mouth ,of St. 
Regis River. 
Glacial Lake Missoula had so transient 
an existenc2 that very little of the sedi- 
nent deposited in its waters can now be 





identified, and it is possible that some of 
the sand and clay noted as Tertiary lake 
beds were laid down in Lake Missoula. 

1 Oregon, which was organized as a 
Territory by act of Congress in August, 
1848, included what is now the county of 
Missoula, Mont. By an act of Congress 
approved March 2, 1853, the Territory of 
Oregon was divided, and the country in- 
cluding Missoula County became a part 
of the Territory of Washington. In De- 
cember, 1860, Spokane County, which 
had included this region, was divided, 
and Missoula County was organized, with 
the county seat at the store of Worden & 
Co. Missoula County remained in Wash- 
ington Territory until Idaho was organ- 
ized, on March 3, 1863, when it became 
a part of Idaho Territory. On the organ- 
ization of Montana, in 1864, Missoula 
County became a part of that Territory. 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 137 


As the train leaves Missoula, the traveler can obtain on the left 
(south) a good view of Lolo Peak, a high summit of the Bitterroot 
Range, which les south of the Lolo trail that played so important a 
part in the early exploration of this country. He can not, however, 
see much of the Bitterroot Valley, for the view is obscured by some 
low hills on the south side of the river. 

The railway runs through a broad valley, with low, rolling hills on 
the right composed of Tertiary lake beds in which, near milepost 121, 
low-grade coal is being mined in a small way. The faint beach lines 
of glacial Lake Missoula, which are so prominent on the side of 
Mount Jumbo, can be followed with the eye along the north side of 
the valley for several miles. 

At De Smet, 7 miles west of Missoula, the road branches, one line 
turning to the left (west) and following Clark Fork to Paradise, with 
a branch across the mountains to the Coeur d’ Alene 
mining district, and the other, the old main line, 
Elevation 3,237 feet. turning sharply to the right and reaching Jocko 
ae Age mie Valley through the Coriacan Defile. This narrow 
pass is reported to have been an Indian highway and it takes its 
name from Chief Coriacan, of the Flatheads, who was surprised and 
killed here by the savage Blackfeet. 

The railway winds around the hills, through cuts in the Tertiary 
lake beds, and passes over the Marent viaduct, which has a height 

of 226 feet. It continues up through a narrow gulch 
Evaro. in the Belt series until finally it reaches a broad flat 
Elevation 3,971 feet. at Evaro, near the summit of the ridge. This place 
St. Paul 1,265 miles. 7 

was formerly on the boundary of the Flathead Indian 


De Smet. 


Reservation. A few years ago each Indian was allotted a certain 


amount of land, and the’ remainder of the reservation was thrown 
open to settlement. On this summit and in the descent on the 
farther side the road runs through the pine forest that formerly 
covered much of the country, but it soon emerges into the broad, 
flat Jocko Valley, in which there are some fairly good farms. At 
milepost 16 an excellent distant view can be obtained of the terminal 
moraine which once marked the extremity of a small glacier that 
descended from the canyon in the range to the right. The plan of 
the moraine can not be seen from the train, but close imspection 
would show that the ridge of rocky fragments comes down from the 
canyon wall on one side and loops around and unites with the wall 
on the opposite side of the creek. As can be seen from the train, 
the moraine is built up to a height of about 100 feet. ‘The mountains 
on the right (east), though not so high as the Mission Range, which 
can be seen farther on, are steep and rugged, towering above the 
valley to the height of several thousand feet. 


138 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


Arlee is one of the towns that have begun to grow since the reser- 
vation was thrown open to white settlers. It les in 
a broad valley containing rich agricultural land and 
will doubtless in time become an important farm- 
ing center. A familiar scene in this valley is shown 
in Plate XIX, A (p. 119). 

Just below Arlee faint beach lines can be seen on the right (east) 
near the base of the hill, and a short distance farther on a terrace of 
fine light-colored sediment is prominent on the same side of the road. 
This terrace can be followed with the eye as far as the canyon by 
which the river escapes from the valley. It is composed of brownish 
clay and sand and is supposed by some to be the sediment deposited 
at the bottom of Lake Missoula, or it may have been deposited by the 
present stream when it was ponded by a greater volume of water 
flowing down Flathead River from the melting glaciers to the north. 

The broad valley in which the railway is situated is surrounded on 
all sides by rocky walls, through one of which the stream draining the 
valley has cut a deep gorge. Such a basin is seldom, if ever, produced 
in the normal development of a stream, but is common in the moun- 
tainous part of Montana. It is supposed to have been formed by 
the depression of the bottom of the basin, thus leaving the walls 
standing high above the valley floor.1 

The rocks exposed in the walls of the canyon belong to the Belt 
series and consist largely of quartzite and argillite. In many pro- 
tected places in the canyon the white sand and clay deposited by the 
flooded Flathead River can be seen, showing that this body of water 
filled not only the valleys where they are wide, but also the narrow 
canyons connecting them. 

At Ravalli the valley is narrow, but the hills are smooth and com- 
paratively low. <A stage line runs from this place north 30 miles to 

Polson, at the lower end of Flathead Lake, where 
connection is made with boats for Kalispell and other 
towns on the Great Northern Railway. Ravalli is the 
distributing point for a large part of the Flathead 
Much of the best land for agriculture lies across the 


Arlee. 


Elevation 3,094 feet. 
St. Paul 1,276 miles. 


Ravalli. 


Elevation 2,714 feet. 
St. Paul 1,286 miles. 


Reservation. 





1 Tt is possible to account for the forma- 
tion of the basin in this manner, but how 
did the stream cut the canyon at the out- 
let? There are three possible answers to 
this question. (1) The movement of de- 
formation was so slow that the stream cut 
the rock faster than it was uplifted. 
(2) The basin was formed so rapidly that 
the water was ponded, forming a lake. 
This lake rose until the water flowed over 
the rim, and the stream thus formed cut 
the present gorge, permitting the water to 
escape. (3) The valley was filled with 


sediment, and the stream draining it sim- 
ply cut down through the soft material 
and trenched the barrier of hard rock 
below. During this period the stream 
removed the great bulk of sediment with 
which the basin had been filled. Which 
of these explanations fits the case in hand 
can not be told without a detailed study 
of the region, but each process should 
have left certain marks, if it has occurred, 
and it is through the study of these char- 
acteristic marks that the question can be 
answered. 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 


139 


ridge north of the station and extends from St. Ignatius to Flathead 
Lake. A large part of this area is to be irrigated by the United States 
Reclamation Service.' 

St. Ignatius, 4 or 5 miles northeast of Ravalli, is one of the Catholic 
missions early established in this region.” It was originally located far- 
ther down Clark Fork, but in 1854 was removed by Father Hoecken to 
its present position, on a fertile plain at the foot of the Mission Range, 
which affords an abundant supply of good water for household use 
and for irrigation. 

Half a mile north of Ravalli is the southeast corner of the Montana 
National Bison Range, which is surrounded by a specially woven 
wire fence that can be seen for several miles north of the track. The 
range, which is under the management of the Biological Survey of the 
United States Department of Agriculture, includes both prairie and 
mountains and is over 30 square miles in extent. The buffalo herd 
now numbers 75, besides which there are a few antelope, deer, and 
other large game animals. 

Just beyond Rayalli, at milepost 31, the traveler can obtain a 
charming view of the rugged tops of the Mission Range on the right 
(northeast). This view includes the highest peaks of the range and 
is the most nearly alpine scenery to be found along the Northern 
Pacific Railway in the Rocky Mountains. 


enn sen ee Eden DSRS 


1Nestling between the towering peaks 
of two ranges of the Rocky Mountains, the 
Flathead Indian Reservation occupies 
one of the world’s most beautiful valleys. 
A few years ago the allotment of land to 
the Indians was completed, and the re- 
maining agricultural lands were opened to 
white settlement and nearly all filed on. 

The Reclamation Service is building an 
irrigation system to cover about 150,000 
acres of land in this region. The average 
elevation is 3,000 feet above sea level, and 
the temperature ranges from 30° below 
zero to 100° above zero. The soil is clay, 
gravelly loam, and forest loam, and fair 
crops of hay, grain, and fruits are fre- 
quently produced on it without irrigation, 
the average annual rainfall being about 16 
inches. With irrigation, alfalfa, all kinds 
of grain, vegetables, and fruits in great 
variety suited to this elevation and lati- 
tude are produced in abundance. 

The Indians are allowed to sella portion 
of their allotments, and farms may also be 
purchased from white settlers at fair 
prices. The lands bordering Flathead 
Lake, which has more than 50 miles of 


shore line within the reservation, are 
being subdivided by the Government 
into summer-resort tracts of 24 to 5 acres 
and will be sold at some future date. 

This valley undoubtedly has a great 
future as a residential section. It is 
located near the south end of Glacier 
National Park, between two great trans- 
continental railway lines. In summer 
the valley is gay with flowers. The 
mountain slopes are covered with fir, 
larch, and pine trees; the glaciers on 
their summits sparkle in the sunshine, 
and at their bases lakes of emerald and 
sapphire delight the eye and provide the 
angler with his favorite sport. 

2The first Catholic mission in this 
region was established in 1841 at St. 
Marys, in Bitterroot Valley. The next 
was the Coeur d’Alene mission, founded 
in 1842 in the Cour d’ Alene Valley, some 
100 milesto the west. St. Mary’s mission 
suffered severely from the raids of the 
Blackfeet Indians, and in 1850 the 
property was sold and the mission aban- 
doned. The next mission to be estab- 
lished was that at St. Ignatius. 


140 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


The terraces of soft material, resting against slopes composed of the 
Belt series, show almost continuously along the valley of Jocko River, 
first on one side and then on the other, growing 

Dixon. stronger downstream. They reach their best devel- 
Elevation 2,531 feet. opment at Dixon, where the Jocko joins Flathead 
ex ea aoae River, which comes down from the north. This 
river drains Flathead Lake, which lies 26 miles to the north and is 
one of the largest bodies of fresh water lying wholly within the 
United States. The river is navigable for small steamers from 
Dixon up to a point within a short distance of the lake, where 
rapids stop further progress. 

At Dixon the material deposited in Lake Missoula is fine white 
sand and clay, being the ‘“‘rock flour,” or fine rock powder, which 
a glacier grinds from its rocky bed and which is carried off by the 
streams, giving them a milky appearance. It was brought down by 
Flathead River from the immense glacier that long ago occupied the 
entire valley of Flathead Lake and the country farther north, where 
the town of Kalispell now stands. This material was deposited in 
the waters of the lake in thin layers (lamine) that give to the cut 
edges of the material a banded appearance. It is probable that the 
glacier occupying Flathead Valley reached at its greatest extension 
nearly or quite to the place now occupied by the town of Dixon, but 
there is no evidence that it passed farther down the valley. 

At milepost 40 a more extended view than that obtained farther 
up the valley can be had of the Mission Range, including its highest 
summit, McDonald Peak, and a small Since lata in a deep amphi- 
theater on the north face of the peak, where the ice is sheltered from 
the rays of the midday sun. This is the only glacier in the Rocky 
Mountains that can be seen from the Northern Pacific trains. (See 
Pl. XIX, B, p. 119.) This noble range marks the eastern boundary 
of the Flathead Reservation and.is the western limit of a broad wil- 
derness of mountain ranges that extend to the margin of the Great 
Plains and include farther north the rugged mountains of the Glacier 
National Park. The Mission Range was named from the Roman 
Catholic mission established at St. Ignatius, near its base, in the 
early fifties. The range can be seen by the traveler from a point a 
little west of Dixon to McDonald, and if the weather is clear the 
view can be relied on to hold the attention, especially from early in 
October until late in June, when the rugged outlines of the range are 
veiled under a shining cover of snow. The nearest peaks are about 
24 miles away and rise to heights of a little more than 10,000 feet 
above sea level, or about 7,500 feet above the railway. 

This chain of mountains lies on the east border of the broad grassy 
plains of the Flathead Valley and extends in a remarkably straight 
line due north and south for nearly 60 miles. The straightness of — 
the mountain front and the sheer abruptness of its rise to heights of 





THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE, 141 


7,000 feet above the low, flat plains at its base make a topographic 
contrast that is rarely equaled in any other part of the Rockies. 
This remarkably abrupt front is due to the mountain range being a 
single huge block of the earth’s crust raised and tilted to the east and 
broken away from the block underlying the lowlands of the Flathead 
Valley, the unusually straight front of the mountains corresponding 
closely with the plane along which this break took place. 

The hills on both sides of the railway are made up of rocks of the Belt 
series, which show little variety in the different beds of which it is com- 
posed or in the positions in which they le. The valley walls are gen- ° 
erally dark, and they are fringed on one side or the other by remnants 
of the lake terrace, which can always be identified by their light color. 

In the lower part of the valley, between Dixon and Paradise, the 
railway follows the banks of the river for several miles, and the 
traveler can obtain many attractive views of the broad river and its 
wooded islands, set off by the dark background of the rugged hills. 

Near Perma the river turns to the left and cuts a narrow canyon 
through the ridge which above this place bounds the valley on the 
left. In this part of its course the Belt series is cut by many dikes 
and sheets of igneous rock (diorite), showing that at one time there 
was considerable disturbance in the region. The most prominent of 
these igneous sheets shows in a bold hill on the north side of the river, 
nearly opposite milepost 50. The igneous material was intruded be- 
tween the layers of the sedimentary rocks, which subsequently have 
been turned on edge, and the diorite now forms a conspicuous out- 
crop for a number of miles to the north. 

At Perma another sill of the same sort as that described above 
crosses the river almost at the station, making a loop through the 
cliffs immediately to the left and then crossing the 
river about 14 miles farther west. This loop is 
eaused by the folding of the sheet of igneous rock, 
together with the inclosing sedimentary beds, into a 
ereat anticline, but the bedding is so obscure that the fold can not 
be traced from the train. 

Twenty miles to the north is Camas Hot Springs, a small settle- 
ment where bath houses and hotels are maintained for the use of 
summer visitors who wish to bathe in the warm mineral water. 

Below Perma the canyon is deep and narrow, and its walls are very 


Perma. 


Elevation 2,512 feet. 
St. Paul 1,306 miles. 


: precipitous. Just beyond milepost 55 the railway crosses to the 


north side of Flathead River, at a point where several diorite sills 
are conspicuously exposed. From this pomt to Paradise the valley 
has high, rocky walls that rise 1,500 to 2,500 feet above the valley 
floor. The rocks are dark brownish red, but the large masses of 
broken rock below the cliffs are a much brighter red and give to the 
valley the appearance of being decorated with great red banners 


that are caught up at the base of the cliffs and stream down to the 


142 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


valley bottom in long, graceful curves. The walls are rugged and 
picturesque, but there is little or no variety, and one soon tires of 
watching the selfsame combination of river, talus slopes, and cliffs. 
The river, however, is really worth attention and presents many 
charming views of the clear water, almost turquoise-blue, sweeping 
around willow-covered islands and between the stately pines that 
dot the river’s bank. (See Pl. XX.) The terrace of soft material 
doubtless once continued throughout the canyon, for here and there 
can be seen remnants of the white clay that vary the monotonous 
red of the valley walls. 

At milepost 62 Flathead River unites with Clark Fork, sometimes 
called Hell Gate or Missoula River. The low-grade line of the railway, 
which leaves the main line at De Smet, follows the 
winding course of Clark Fork and at Paradise, a short 
distance below this milepost, connects with the main 
line. Paradise is a district terminal and so becomes 
the stopping place of many of the freight crews. The traveler, like 
others who have gone over this road before him, may wonder 
for what reason the name Paradise was given to this narrow, rugged 
valley. The writer has no suggestions to offer, except that even 
this valley may have looked like a paradise to some unfortunate 
individual who had been obliged to cross the adjacent mountain 
country, or who had perchance been lost in the intricate mazes of 
its deeply cut ravines. 

At Paradise the change is made from Mountain to Pacific time, 
one hour earlier. 

The valley of Clark Fork between Paradise and Plains has about 
the same character as that of Flathead River above Paradise. The 
rocks are similar, belonging to one of the oldest sedimentary for- 
mations known in this country (Prichard). The low terrace which 
is so conspicuous at Dixon and which is there composed largely of 
fine material scoured from the bedrock by the glacier that came 
down Flathead Valley still persists below Paradise, or, rather, rem- 
nants of it can be seen here and there on both sides of the valley; 
but the material is pink, partaking more of the color of the local 
rocks and in places containing gravel beds of considerable thickness. 

To the traveler interested in the geologic history of this region 
some of the most instructive features of the topography are small 
deltas or terraces in the side gulches at a height of fully 400 feet 
above the level of the track. A typical example can be seen on 
the right (north) just beyond milepost 1. Evidently these deltas 
mark the mouths of small streams that at one time flowed into a 
lake whose surface was at the level of the terrace. The lake must 
have been very transient to have left no other evidence of its exist- 
ence, and probably it was merely a low stage of the body of water 
called glacial Lake Missoula. 


Paradise. 


Elevation 2,499 feet. 
St. Paul 1,319 miles. 


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THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 


143 


Plains, formerly known as Horse Plains because it is situated in 
the midst of a broad prairie that was used as a pasture ground for 
horses belonging to the trading posts of the Hudson’s 
Bay Co., is a sort of oasis in the desert of rocky 
canyons along Clark Fork. Here the valley opens 
and terraces are well developed, especially one about 
170 feet above river level. East of the station the terrace shows on 
the north, but west of the town a large remnant of the terrace, 
equally well developed, can be seen across the river on the south. 

Fait beach lines also appear on the high, smooth hill slope back 
of Plains, but it is probable that the lines visible from the railway 
are not the highest in this region, the others being obscured by the 
timber and brush growing on the higher hills. 

One of the most striking features of the valley of Clark Fork is 
the fairly regular succession of narrow canyons and broad valleys, 
without any apparent reason so far as the action of the stream is 
concerned. These changes are not due to differences in the hard- 
ness of the rocks, for as a rule all the formations of the Belt series 
have about the same degree of resistance to erosion; but they are 
due to great breaks or faults in the rocks. These faults have broken 
the crust of the earth into huge blocks, some of which have been 
raised, some lowered, and some tilted over so that one edge is very 
much lower than the other. These dropped or tilted blocks form 
the broad valleys, and the raised blocks or the upper edges of the 
tilted blocks have proved to be serious obstructions in the pathway 
of the river, which has succeeded in cutting only narrow canyons 
through them. This explains the broad valley at Plains and the 
narrow canyons which lie directly above and below that place. 

The breaking into blocks and then the tilting of these blocks 
into various attitudes seem to have been the movements that gave 
to this region its distinguishing structural features. In some of 


Plains. 


Elevation 2,482 feet. 
Population 481. 
St. Paul 1,325 miles. 























1 East of the Mission Range the rocks { directions. As a rule, the rocks are not 








aults having a general northwesterly 
rend, but west of that range the struc- 
ure is less regular and the folds and faults 


o not have a common direction, as they 
ofarther east. In the area about Plains 
e structure is broadly simple and yet is 
endered complex in detail by minor 
ults and folds that trend in different 


re thrown into great folds or tilted along . 


very severely folded, and most of the 
faults are of the type called normal faults, 
due to tension or stretching of the earth’s 
crust, but some of them are distinctly of 





Figure 30.—Normal faults (A) and overthrust fault (B). Arrows indicate direction of movement. 


the overthrust type, due to horizontal 
stresses of compression. The two kinds 
of faults are illustrated in figure 30. 

In a normal fault the rocks slip in such 
a way that they occupy a greater hori- 


144 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


these blocks, as, for example, the one which les between Plains 
and Thompson Falls (see sheet 20, p. 152), the rocks are slightly 
bent into broad, open folds. The structure in this block is repre- 
sented by figure 31. 

The rocks in sight east of Plains belong to the Prichard formation, 
which dips to the west and passes below water level, and at Plains 
the thin-bedded gray quartzite and argillite of the overlying (Ra- 
valli) formation come into view. ‘This formation continues with 
fairly regular dip to a point about one-half mile beyond Weeksville. 
At this place the Newland limestone, overlying the Ravalli, appears, 
dipping in the same direction and at about the same angle as the 






























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Ae) 

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<8 : rr So ne 

N . 5 

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ory Jeet f/f: /: ili lef If, 
19 A Ws , Seng | fe ’ 

Bw non Nfl: 

wy. Spee” : Se ae Woe “77, Shi VILLAS J, ‘tp 

CAMEL, VALLI FORMATION ENN NA Ravarty ror K. yy) pricnane |i! Y: 

PN MLAE < LPAI WAIN ADS GGA. A LGM oe eer hs 


FIGURE 31.—Great folds in the rocks between Plains and Thompson Falls, Mont. 


Ravalli. Within a short distance the dip flattens, and at milepost 
15 is reached the point toward which the beds dip from both direc- 
tions; that is, the axis of the syncline. The beds here are nearly 
horizontal, but toward the west they begin to rise, and near mile- 
post 18 the Newland limestone disappears from track level, though 
still present in the tops of the hills, and the Ravalli 
formation beneath it again comes into view. From 
this place past Eddy and Frost to the mouth of 
Thompson River, near milepost 26, the cliffs are 
made up of Ravalli rocks thrown into folds or wrinkles too small to 
be shown in the diagram (fig. 31). The walls in this part of the can- 
yon are probably more rugged and more nearly vertical than those 
of any other part of its course. 

Beyond Thompson River the dip of the rocks brings the outcrop 
of the Newland limestone down from the tops of the hills (see fig. 31), 


Eddy. 


Elevation 2,437 feet. 
St. Paul 1,340 miles. 











zontal space after the movement than 
they did before the faulting occurred, as 
shown by the diagram. An overthrust 
fault is generally produced by the break- 
ing of afold. The fold and fault are due 
to compression in the earth’s crust, and 
the result of the movement is that the 
older rocks are shoved upward and for- 
ward over the younger rocks, thus giving 
them an inverted relationship. Another 
result is that the faulted mass occupies 
less space than it did before the move- 
ment began. 


In the region west of Missoula there 
have probably been two principal move-- 
ments—(1) a movement of compression, | 
which threw the rocks into broad folds, ; 
the compression in some places, as in | 
the Glacier National Park, being so 
intense as to produce a great over-— 
thrust fault; and (2) a movement of ten- 
sion or stretching, by which the some- 
what folded mass of rock was broken by 
a great many normal faults, a few of 
which are shown on the accompanying 
maps. 


SHEET No. 19 


a “Nit. Mc Donald 
ae AE PAO Qu, 


es 
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ENGRAVED AND PRINTED SY THE U.S-GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


“SHEET. Noi 





















MONTANA 





a 
J 


Wig, wh, : 
ty, ~ Pa y 
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mea 6 ¥ BOQ 
ae ee Aly, 
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Ww Wi 
SNS 
ASSEN 


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SOR. . OAD 
S SS Or 


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Sam Superior 
mS 








iron Mountains ® ) 
Eire \ << { 
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EXPLANATION 7G 


te Qua 
( 
Thickness oNow 
in feet ~~ ASE ee 
: é ¢ . Clow fa a 
A Stream deposits (alluvium), Riv let ¥ OO OTH ER A 
glacial drift, and ee wulet CQ ig Nonna Se 
deposited in glacial Lake j Quaternary By Cyr 





Missoula 
B- Glacial moraine 


J 


/ 


C Clay, voleanic ash, and sand 
(ake beds) 3,000 Tertiary 


D Red sandstone and shale 
(Spokane formation) 3,800 
= == ee #| F Impurelimestone (Newland) 4,800 
° 25  SOMILES f| G Quartzite and shale 
Se 4 (Ravalli quartzite) 2,500 


GLACIAL LAKE MISSOULA, HEMMED IN BY A BARRIER OF ICE : H Biuash-auarizite = Asana Pioenkian 
ON THE NORTH a (Prichard formation) 8,000 (Belt series) 


I In places formations D, F, | 
G, and H, have not been 
separated and the entire | 

mass is called simply | 


> 92 sQ- 





Vidar : oH re 4 ae 
SASSO ee eT 
Se Si) €L.9223 
BALA = aS , cela ) i 
Se. c : IRR 4 = 
oy 


Belt series 


Scale 500,000 


J  Diorite, intrusive Approximately 8 miles to | inch 
\ tt 5 10 1S 20Miles 
SS ee Ee ee ee Se 


10 5 10 15 20 25 30Kilometers 
Dat cnteadianrewedienndlenediecadiretineclievelanstiventnantanslnmancstveniecedbasal relestinscdirealieatweclmetoentemestastied 


Contour interva! 200 feet 
ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 





0 TRAIL FOL, 
peer nie 


“£0 


BOE EARP ES 





The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles 


The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 











ENGRAVED AND PRINTED SY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 145 


but at this place it extends for only a mile or so and is cut off by a 
fault that trends about N. 20° W. and crosses the railway near mile- 
post 29. As shown on the map, this fault separates the Newland 
limestone on the east from the Ravalli quartzite on the west. 
On approaching Thompson Falls the traveler can see on his right 
a hill, and, if his eyesight is particularly good, he may be able to 
detect on its summit a steel tower erected by the United States 
Forest Service. On this tower during the summer is stationed an 
observer, who with powerful glasses watches for forest fires. As he 
can see on all sides for a distance of 50 miles, if the weather is clear, 
he is generally able to detect a fire soon after it starts and to notify 
the nearest ranger by telephone. Forest fires, especially such as 
swept through these mountains in 1910, not only burn a great 
amount of valuable timber but may also destroy towns along their 
pathway, with considerable loss of life. Under the present system 
of observers on high stations and an efficient organization for fight- 
ing fire, the destruction of timber has been greatly reduced and the 
loss of life nearly eliminated. 
_ The town of Thompson Falls took its name from the falls of the 
same name, which were discovered in 1809 by David Thompson, the 
explorer and astronomer of the Northwest Fur Co. 


Thompson Falls. ‘The water here falls 50 or 60-feet over resistant ledges 
Elevation 2,458feet. of the Ravalli formation. It is estimated that with 
Population 325. 


proper installation 40,000 horsepower could be gen- 
erated at this fall. A dam is now being constructed, 
and electric power is to be furnished to the mountain division of the 
Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, 35 miles to the south. It is 
reported that any surplus power may be utilized in a similar manner 
by the Northern Pacific Railway. 

_ West of Thompson Falls the bluffs on the right recede so far from 
the river that the rocks composing them are unrecognizable from the 
train, but the Ravalli formation! shows at railway level dipping 


St. Paul 1,351 miles. 

















17The northern Rocky Mountains are 
made up largely and in some places 
wholly of the formations constituting the 
Belt series. These formations consist of 
sandstone, shale, and limestone, but the 
limestone is generally a small part of the 
entire mass. The sandstone is in many 
places changed to quartzite and the shale 
to argillite (a hard, slaty shale). These 
rocks were first studied in detail by C. D. 
Walcott in the Belt Mountains, east of 
Helena, Mont., and hence are known as 
the Belt series. 


95558°—Bull. 611—15——10 


Very few fossils occur in the series, and 
those that have been found bear very 
little resemblance to the Cambrian faunas 
with which they should be most closely 
related. The only traces of animal life so 
far discovered in the sandstones and argil- 
lites are a few fragments of a small crusta- 
cean and the trails of worms. The lime- 
stones are crowded with peculiar coral- 
like forms, which Walcott has recently 
determined to be fossil alge similar to 
the algze now growing in some of the lakes 
of New York. Walcott concludes from 


146 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


toward the west, and across the river the Newland limestone is present 
in the tops of the hills. This formation appears to be flat, but that 
is because the traveler is looking at the edge of beds that dip directly 
away from him. This relation of limestone and quartzite to the river 
and railway holds in a general way from Thompson Falls to Noxon. 

At Kildee, near milepost 37, the railway crosses the river, and from 
this point to Trout Creek there are two lines; the “high line” keeps 
up on the bench away from the river and the “low line” runs near 
the stream. The latter affords many interesting views of the river, 
which flows in a gorge cut a hundred feet or so in the floor of the old 


broad valley. 


a study of the fossils mentioned that the 
large region in Montana, Idaho, and A1- 
berta, Canada, underlain by the Belt 
series was during their deposition a con- 
tinental area on which the sediments 
were deposited by rivers or in shallow 
lakes. The appearance of the rocks con- 
firms this view, for all of them, even in- 
cluding many of the thick beds of lime- 
stone, are ripple marked, showing that 
they were deposited in shallow water. 
In places the argillite contains mud 
cracks and prints of raindrops, which 
could have been made only when the soft 
material was above water level and ex- 
posed to the drying effect of the atmos- 
phere or the beating of the storm. By 
piecing together measurements made in 
several places, it is estimated that the 
Belt series, so far as it has been seen, is 
from 25,000 to 30,000 feet thick; but the 
base has not yet been found, and its real 
thickness may not be very much greater. 

In this great mass of material certain 
parts, on account cf their composition 
and association with other beds, can 
readily be separated and identified in 
the areas in which they have been stud- 
ied; but other parts have no character- 
istics by which they can readily be dis- 
tinguished, and consequently different 
workers have classified them in different 
ways. 

The two units most easily identified 
are the Newland limestone, which Wal- 
cott first recognized in the Belt Moun- 
tains, and the Helena limestone, which 
he named from its occurrence at the cap- 
ital of the State. The general section 
along the Northern Pacific Railway, ac- 


cording to F. C. Calkins and J. T. Pardee, 
is as follows: 


Formations composing the Belt series along 
the Northern Pacific Railway. 


Thickness 
J in feet. 
Helena: Limestone, dark blue or ) 
gray, weathering buff......... 2, 400 


Empire: Shale, greenish gray, or 





quartzite?..9. 24 ee 600 
Spokane: Shale or argillite, with 
some sandstone, all deep red... 1, 500 
Greyson (Striped Peak): Shale, 
dark gray or green, with some 
white quartzite. 3... eoan sees 3, 000 
Newland: Limestone, blue, thin 
bedded, but with some heavy- 
bedded buff layers............ 2, 200 
Ravalli: Quartzite, with some 
dark bluish or greenish shale.. 2, 000 
Prichard: Shale, dark Lluish, in- 
terbedded with sandstone; base 
notiexposed...3.:3 Als eae 8, 000 
2 19, 700 


The rocks of the belt series occur along 
the Northern Pacific Railway from the 
Bridger Mountains on the east to Sand- 
point on the west. In the eastern part of 
this area they form the core of most of the — 
mountain ranges, but west of Bonita they 
are the only hard rocks to be seen, with | 
the exception of a few intrusive masses, | 
to Pend Oreille Lake. They form the 
mountains of Glacier National Park and 
extend along the Rocky Mountains from 
the southern boundary of Montana, south 
of Butte, far into Canada, covering a terri- 
tory about 500 miles long by 200 miles 
wide at the widest place. 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 


147 


This part of the valley of Clark Fork was not seen by Lewis and 
Clark, but it was discovered soon afterward by the agents of the 
various fur companies, then exceedingly active in exploring new terri- 
tory, and later it was examined in detail by the Government engineers.! 





1 Soon after the return of Lewis and 
Clark the adventurous agents and ex- 
plorers of the fur companies were engaged 
in examining every valley in the North- 
west for fur-bearing animals and selecting 
sites for trading posts on almost every 
navigable stream and lake. Most of 
these advance guards of white civiliza- 
tion kept no record of their wanderings, 
but two of them, Alexander Henry and 
David Thompson, connected with the 
Northwest Fur Co., left excellent notes of 
their explorations and their dealings with 
the Indians in the northern United States 
and southern Canada in the early years of 
the nineteenth century. Alexander Henry 
was a fur trader with only one ambition, 
to further the interests of the Northwest 
Fur Co.; but David Thompson was an 
astronomer and scientific explorer, and 
his notes afforded much more accurate 
data regarding the character of the 
country and the location of important 
places than those of almost any other man 
who traversed this region in the early 
days. The territory covered by these 
men was largely the same, but Thompson 
explored the region about Clark Fork and 
Pend Oreille Lake, while Henry was en- 
aged in trade with the Indians at the 
ead of the Columbia. 

In 1806 Thompson descended Kootenai 
iver to about the place where the 
resent Idaho-Montana line crossed that 
tream and proceeded southward along 
n old Indian trail across the Cabinet 
ountains to Pend Oreille Lake. He 
eached the outlet of Clark Fork into 
end Oreille Lake September 9 and built 
trading post on the point just north of it. 
his post he called Kullyspell House, 
om the name of an Indian tribe. In 
e modified form of Kalispell this name 
now applied to a thriving town on the 
reat Northern Railway, near the north 
nd of Flathead Lake. So far as known, 
is was the first visit of a white man 
Pend Oreille Lake and Clark Fork. 
om Kullyspell House Thompson ex- 

























plored the valley down past Sandpoint 
as far as Priest Rapids and up Clark Fork 
and Flathead River to Dixon, where the 
Flathead reaches the railway from the 
north. On one of these trips up the river 
he established another trading post near 
the falls that were subsequently named 
in honor of their discoverer. This post he 
called Saleesh House, from the native 
name for the Flathead Indians. After 
the establishment of these trading posts 
Thompson continued westward to the 
Columbia, and he was the first white man 
to pass down that stream from the mouth 
of Priest River to Pasco, where the 
Northern Pacific Railway now crosses the 
river. 

Although the fur traders explored the 
valley of Clark Fork as early as 1806, their 
reports were made only to the officials of 
the companies, who had no interest in 
promoting settlement, and consequently 
the public had little information concern- 
ing this interesting region until it was 
examined by the Government engineers 
who in 1853-54 explored it thoroughly to 
find the best route for a Pacific railroad. 
In 1853 Lieut. R. Saxton passed this way 
on his route from the Pacific coast to the 
headquarters of the expedition in the 
Bitterroot Valley. Saxton proceeded 
up Columbia River and across country 
to Pend Oreille Lake, which he reached 
August 12. He found that, owing to the 
high, steep mountains, it was impossible 
to pass around the south end of the lake, 
and he had considerable difficulty in 
skirting the north end, where Hope is now 
situated. He then proceeded up Clark 
Fork, but he found the route very rough 
and difficult, for the stream in many 
places swung so close to the bluffs as to 
make it necessary for the party to find a 
way over the rough mountain sides. 
After passing Thompson Falls and ascend- 
ing Flathead River to the site of Dixon, he 
went up the Jocko and crossed the summit 
at the head of the Coriacan Defile to St. 
Mary (Stevensville), in Bitterroot Valley. 


148 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


The railway, from the point where it crosses Clark Fork to Trout 
Creek, follows the outcrop of the Ravalli formation, which dips to 
the left; and it is probable that the hills on the left are composed of 
the next higher formation, the Newland limestone, but they are so 
far distant and so nearly covered with trees that it is doubtful if the 
traveler will be able to distinguish formations. 

Just beyond milepost 50 the train crosses Big Beaver Creek, a 
large stream joining the river from the south, and a little farther on 
Vermilion Creek enters from the other side. The valley of the 
Vermilion is particularly interesting, for at its mouth there is a 
marked delta, visible from the train on the high line, which is 320 
feet above the present river level. This delta could have been built 
only when the valley of Clark Fork was filled with water up to that 
altitude, and it probably marks some stage—possibly a closing 
stage—of glacial Lake Missoula. The reason why the valley of 
Vermilion Creek contains a more pronounced feature of this kind 
than the adjacent tributary valleys is that it connects at its head 
by a low pass with a valley draining into Kootenai River to the 
north. Through this low pass a large stream evidently flowed from 
the north at some time in the remote past. At that time all the 
Kootenai Valley, the next valley to the north, which is followed by 
the Great Northern Railway, was filled with an ice sheet that came) 
down from the north, blocking all the previously existing water- 
courses and discharging at least part of its waters through the valley 
of Vermilion Creek. The sand and gravel carried by this stream 
were dumped into Lake Missoula when it stood 320 feet above the 
present level of Clark Fork. This was doubtless only a temporary 
outlet, else more material would have been brought down, possibly 
enough to completely fill the valley of Clark Fork. 

At Trout Creek the hills on the south are composed of the Newland 
limestone, which dips toward the river at an angle of 40°. It is 

probable that this is the same belt of limestone as 
Trout Creek, that which was seen on the left at a point just below 
ee Ri gt Thompson Falls, and it is undoubtedly the same as 

' the limestone which occurs on the south side of the 
valley as far as Noxon. 3 

A short distance beyond Trout Creek the river makes a decided 
bend to the left and swings against the bluffs on that side. The 
railway follows the river and at milepost 59 is close to the mountain 
side, which is nearly bare, having been swept clean of trees in the 
great forest fires of 1910. On one of these smooth slopes horizontal 
beach lines are visible. They can be identified up the slopes to a 
height of 1,200 feet above the river, or 3,500 feet above sea level, but 
beyond that height no trace of such markings has been found. The 








THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 149 


uppermost beach line here probably corresponds with the highest 
one observed near Missoula and Dixon and, as these beach lines were 
formed by the same body of water and therefore must have been 
horizontal, it is almost certain that the crust of the earth has been 
tilted since the disappearance of the lake, the surface about Missoula 
having been raised 1,000 feet above that at Trout Creek, as explained 
on page 134. 

Just beyond milepost 59 the roadway is cut in the base of a high 
cliff which is composed of Newland limestone lying nearly horizontal. 
The argillites and quartzites showing across the river and in the 
pyramidal island in the stream are vertical, hence there must be a 
fault between them which coincides in a general way with the course 
of the river. 

Near milepost 67 a charming view is to be had of the cliffs on the 
south, which stand like a huge castle with battlemented walls. 

The Newland limestone is exposed almost continuously along the 
river from milepost 59 to Noxon and for some miles beyond. It is 

generally horizontal or dips slightly to the northwest. 
Noxon. Nearly opposite milepost 74 Bull River joins Clark 
Hleelie eer ieet: Fork from the north. This tributary valley is con- 

i ' nected by a broad, deep trench directly through the 
Cabinet Mountains with the valley of Lake Creek, affording in glacial 
time a direct outlet for the great mass of ice that kept crowding down 
from the northern country. In this great trench the ice at its maxi- 
mum was at least 2,000 feet deep. As soon as it emerged into the 
more open valley of Clark Fork it was reinforced by a large ice tongue 
that came down by Sandpoint and deployed up the Clark Fork valley. 
These two masses blended and filled the valley from Pend Oreille 
Lake to Noxon, forming an effective barrier across the pathway of 
the stream. Behind this barrier the body of water known as glacial 
Lake Missoula accumulated. In its passage up the valley the glacier 
left abundant evidence of its presence and work by the scouring which 
the valley received, the scratches on the rocks, and the bowlders of 
granite and other crystalline rocks which it carried into this area. 
The bowlders were not only dropped upon the valley floor, but many 
of them were left stranded on the valley wall up to a height of at 
least 2,000 feet above the stream. 

Beyond Bull River there is little of interest for some distance. 

The valley walls are composed of Newland limestone, 
Heron, Mont. = which dips gently downstream. Just beyond mile- 
Be unl tae ine Post 87, a few miles west of Heron, the train crosses 

geese ' the State line into Idaho, the boundary beimg mdi- 

cated by a signboard. 


150 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


To those who remember Idaho in their school geographies as a 

small pink block, shaped like an easy chair facing east, it may be of 

interest that this State, which in 1890 added the forty- 

Idaho. fifth star to the constellation on the flag, is nearly as 

large as Pennsylvania and Ohio combined and larger 

than the six New England States with Maryland included for good 

measure. It is divided into 33 counties, the smallest of which is half 

as large as the State of Rhode Island and the largest exceeds the 
combined area of Massachusetts and Delaware. 

Idaho covers an area of 83,888 square miles, divided principally 
between the Rocky Mountain region and the Columbia Plateau, only 
a small part, in the southeast corner of the State, lying in the Great 
Basin. In elevation above sea level the State ranges from 735 feet, 
at Lewiston, to 12,078 feet at the summit of Hyndman Peak. It is 
drained by the Columbia mainly through Snake River and its tribu- 
taries, and has an annual rainfall of about 17 inches, the range in a 
single year at different places being from 6 to 38 inches. 

The industries of the State are chiefly agriculture, stock raising, 
and mining. Hay, wheat, oats, and potatoes are the principal crops. 
A large area is cultivated by irrigation. The mineral production 
includes gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc. The output of lead in 
1913 was valued at $13,986,366, that of silver at $6,033,473. 

The population of Idaho in 1910 was 325,924. 


A short distance west of the Idaho line the Newland limestone, 
which has formed the walls of the valley for the last 10 or 12 miles, 
dips below water level, and the quartzites of the 
Cabinet, Idaho. overlying formation (Striped Peak) appear. These 
Te ae feet. rocks are so much harder than the limestone that 
St. Paul 1401 miles, the river has succeeded in cutting through them only 
a narrow, tortuous passageway known as Cabinet 
Gorge (Pl. XXI, p. 1483). The river pours its whole volume through a 
crooked defile not over 100 feet wide, and it is estimated that 40,000 
horsepower could be developed here with the natural flow of the 
stream. The gorge is soon passed, so that those who wish to see it 
should keep a close watch on the right as soon as they cross the State 
line. Beyond Cabinet station as far as milepost 91 there are many 
cuts in bright-red and green argillite and thin beds of sandstone 
(Striped Peak formation) overlying the Newland limestone. These 
mark the middle of a broad, flat syncline, which crosses the river in 
a north-south direction. Farther west the rocks dip upstream, and 
at the railway bridge the top of the Newland limestone may be seen 
on the north bank of the river. 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. ‘Loh 


The village of Clark Fork is situated at the head of the delta which 

Clark Fork has built where it enters Pend Oreille Lake. Below the 

village the track winds about in the broad plain of 

Clark Fork. the river bottom, skirting shallow bays and swamps 

poreeen at ich and winding among rocky islands that rise here and 

St. Paul 1,412 miles. there in the delta plain. The rocks are limestone 

(Newland), dipping up the stream toward the axis 

of the syncline, but about 2 miles from the village the whole of the 

limestone has risen above water level, and the underlying red argil- 
lites and quartzites (Ravalli) are exposed in the cuts. 

West of milepost 97 the traveler may get glimpses here and there 
of Pend Oreille Lake, but it is not until the train approaches Hope 

that an unobstructed view may be obtained. If it 
Hope. is a clear day, the waters ripple in the sunshine 
Pe against a dark background of rugged mountains, 
St. Paul 1,421 miles. but if the air is hazy the lake scems to disappear in 

the distance between misty walls that rise on either 
side. One can but wonder what lies beyond that rocky gateway and 
long to board the little steamer lying at the dock and explore its 
remotest reaches. The broad expanse of water along the north 
shore is broken by several wooded, rocky islands that add greatly to 
the charm of the picture. 

The French term pend (pendant) d’oreille means literally earring 
and was doubtless given to this lake by the early French explorers 
on account of its peculiar shape; but some authorities say that the 
name was originally given to a tribe of Indians because of their cus- 
tom of wearing earrings and then was applied to the lake because 
these Indians inhabited its shores. 

The laké is about 50 miles long and from 2 to 15 miles wide, and 
it is said to be very deep. As it is long and narrow and lies between 
mountains 2,000 to 3,000 feet high, it must, if the reported depth of 
water is correct, occupy a canyon rivaling in size and depth the 
Grand Canyon of the Colorado, in Arizona. 

On the shore of the lake, near the place where Hope now stands, 
were once the main trails that led into the Kootenai country to the 
north. Over these trails supplies for the mining camps and goods 
for trade with the Indians were taken in and cargoes of precious furs 
brought out, but the traffic has ceased and the trails have become 
impassable. Hope is built on the side of a mountain so steep that 
its streets occupy levels 300 feet apart. It is important now as the 
site of a large sawmill and as a port for the small traffic on the lake. 

The rocks back of Hope belong to the Prichard formation, which 
extends for about 7 miles, but they are cut by many dikes of granite 
similar to the great mass west of Sandpoint. The rocks also show 


152 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


greater metamorphism (changes due to pressure or to heat) toward 
this mass of granite, and on this account do not bear a close resem- 
blance to those of the same age farther east. 

Beyond milepost 111, west of Oden (see sheet 21, p. 160), the valley 
between the Cabinet Range on the east and the Selkirk Range on the 
west is a broad plain. Down this great valley a glacier once forced 
its way from Canada past Bonners Ferry and extended many miles 
south along the route followed by the Northern Pacific to Spokane. 

On approaching Sandpoint the railroad skirts the extreme west 
end of Pend Oreille Lake, but in this part of the lake the shores are 

generally low, and the view is not so striking as that 
Sandpoint. obtained from Hope. From Sandpoint the moun- 
Elevation 2,096 feet. tain slope on the opposite (south) side of the outlet 
a Beh ae ie of the lake, by reason of its gentleness and smoothness, 

is so different from those generally seen along Clark 
Fork, although composed of the same kind of rock, that it calls for an 
explanation. This long ridge does not rise abruptly from the water 
level at its north end, like the mountain slopes on the other side of 


i= 


FIGURE 32.—Profile of mountain slope east of Sandpoint, Idaho. Ice moved in the direction indicated 
by the arrow and scoured the slope smooth. 


the lake, but rises gradually to a height of 2,000 feet above the 
lake. The profile as seen from Sandpoint is represented in figure 
32. The explanation of the gentle slope is that the great glacier 
which once came down the valley from the north and which probably 
had a depth of more than 1,000 feet, passed far up on the slope of 
this mountain and possibly completely overrode it. This mass of 
ice, with its embedded rocky fragments, ground off all irregularities 
of the mountain side, leaving it a gently inclined slope from bottom 
to top. The direction of the moving ice is indicated on the diagram 
by the arrow. 

At Sandpoint the Great Northern and the Spokane & Interna- 
tional (Canadian Pacific) railways approach the Northern Pacific, 
but the Great Northern at its point of nearest approach is 2 miles 
from the lake and can not be seen from the train. 

South of Sandpoint the railway crosses the lower end of Pend 
Oreille Lake on a steel and concrete viaduct 4,769 feet long. From 
this viaduct may be obtained, if the day is clear, a comprehensive 
view of the mountains east of Pend Oreille Lake. The significant 
feature of this mountain mass is not its height or its ruggedness, — 


SHEET No. 20 


115°30" MONTANA-IDAHO _ 








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115°30' 


ENGRAVED ANE PRINTED OY THE U.S.GU 


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GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 


OF THE 


NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 


From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 


Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
information collected with the assistance of this company 


UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 4S 
David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 


1915 


Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 
lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 
Sheet of that name. 





Sheet No.2/ 




















BULLETIN 611 

















¢ 
eat 
SI 
| BS Qy 
| Xe \ i 
Wy; 
4 i Tusoor Ay 
Oo L223te 
aoe = Martin ae 
—_,, Macha _c- TAM 
4 prs 
Ip ag 
| O / 
| wXPLANA )} 
a 
hickness 
in e at 
A 
#3. 
Quaternary 
p > 
| i 
Bi 
{ ia 
a ge S 
MMi] a, , . 
7 1 eae A 9 
hr li wianG ROE | yf = 
Raval] ——— = 
eu aiil lox ikian we ms % 
He q PS 3) 
| ike I a a { nis ai 
¥ TLoTr at Oo i — iva) 
formations E G, 
| nave § & 12- 
ed simpls 
V2 1? 
o 
| 
eet 
Scale 500,000 
Approximately 8 miles to | inch 
S147 | ? 5 10 15 20Miles 
4 ag ot Si is FEE ne eat batt land oe atl aes int ti bed Ba a nol 
| 1 0 5 10 Hs) 20 25 30Kilometers 
Rit neafaarchemaelicnceeernlbesntes: wothcsradecce te. 
Contour interval 200 feet 
ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles 
The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 





SHEET No. 20. 
MONTANA-IDAHO 


_— 






































THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTR. 153 


but the evenness of its summits, as if the region were a vast plateau. 
As this is the country through which the westbound traveler has 
just come, he appreciates that such is not the case, but the moun- 
tains are made up of ridges of nearly the same height, the tops of 
which, at a distance, blend so as to appear like a flat-topped mountain. 

The even crests of such ridges and mountains are supposed to 
have been formed when the land was low lying and in fact nearly 
a plain (a peneplain).1. At that time there were no mountains in 
this region and the surface was as flat as the prairies of North Dakota 
and probably much nearer sea level. 

For some distance after crossing Pend Oreille Lake the railway 
skirts the base of the mountain on the left (east), and the cuts through 
the low spurs reveal the granite in many places. On some of these 
ledges, even from the moving train, glacial strix (scratches in the bed- 
rock made by rock fragments embedded in the ice and forced along 
under enormous pressure) may be seen. The direction of these 
scratches is parallel with the railway and shows that the glacier 
moved up the valley toward Spokane. 

The railway crosses the valley, cutting through many knolls of 


gravel and sand deposited by a stream which flowed from the end of 
I ee Nie 


1 The constant tendency of almost all 
natural processes going on at the surface 
of the earth is to wear away the high 
land and to reduce the continent toward 
sea level. As these processes are always 
at work wearing away the higher points 
of the land, it follows that in time the 
surface of the land would be reduced to 
a plain were there no counteracting forces 
at work. The forces that tend to inter- 
fere with the reduction of the surface of 
the earth are those that produce move- 
ment within the crust, for such move- 
ments are almost always accompanied by 
elevation at some point, and when this 
occurs the reduction process is of neces- 
sity begun anew and carried on all over 
again. If, however, crustal movements 

do not occur for a long time, the surface 
of the earth is reduced nearly to a plain 
that stands near but not at sea level. 
‘Such a surface has been named a pene- 
‘plain (meaning “almost a plain”). In 
‘most regions the procéss of reduction in 
the past has been interrupted by the 
elevation of those particular parts of the 
crust before the surface was greatly 
reduced, but in certain places the proc- 


ess seems to have been carried nearly 
to its limit and a peneplain produced. 
If after the formation of such a pene- 
plain the land is uplifted evenly over a 
wide area, the peneplain, instead of 
being near sea level, will form an upland 
or plateau. As such an elevated tract is 
always vigorously attacked by streams, 
canyons will soon be cut back from the 
edge of the plateau or from the mouths 
of the streams, and, as time goes on, 
these canyons will reach farther and 
farther back into the upland and new 
canyons will be established, until finally 
all the even surface of the peneplain will 
be cut away and instead of a plain or 
peneplain it will be a hilly upland or a 
mountainous belt, its character depend- 
ing on the amount of the uplift. Despite 
the fact that the region has lost its even 
surface, the hills or mountains will have, 
for a long time, about the same height, 
and their summits will be but little 
below the surface of the old peneplain. 
In other words, the country is a dissected 
plateau, but to an observer at a distance 
the even crest lines of the ridges still 
appear like the level top of the plateau. 


154 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


the glacier during the retreat of the ice from its farthest southward 
extension. Near milepost 24 can be seen on the west a slope of 
massive granite that has been laid bare by the ice and has been 
smoothed and rounded by the same agent. Such bosses of rounded 
rock have been called by the French ‘‘roches moutonnées”’ (sheep- 
back rocks), and this term has now come into common use in this 
country. 

All the indications thus far observed point clearly to the occupation 
of this valley by the ice. The small lakes which abound in the district 

afford still further evidence of the presence of a 
Cocolalla. glacier and the consequent rearrangement of all the 
Elevation 2,228 feet. drainage lines. Cocolalla Lake occupies a depression 
cia ish Shea hemmed in by hills of gravel that was deposited by 

the ice or by water flowing directly from the front of 
the glacier. South of Cocolalla the valley is more or less swampy 
(another indication of a recently established drainage system), and 
the granite lies on the west. Farther south the granite can be seen on 
the east side of the track, hence it probably underlies most of the 
valley; but, if so, it is well concealed in places by glacial drift. 

The village of Granite is appropriately named, for the granite is 
well exposed there. A short distance beyond the station the railway 

crosses a high bridge over what appears to be a deep, 
Granite. irregular channel scoured out by the ice, and the 
Elevation 2,269 feet. Jnobs of granite, scored and rounded, rise about it in 
ee saul 1io8 inites, 2 directions. After passing through a small tunnel 

in this rock, the train emerges into an open drift- 
covered plain strewn with bowlders of granite broken from the ledges 
near the tunnel and carried southward by the ice. Many of these 
bowlders are 20 feet in diameter, and they occur along the track for a 
distance of 7 miles from the village of Granite. 

Although there are many lakes in this general region, they can not 
be seen from the train for the reason that they are near the margins of 
the hills, whereas the railway keeps the middle of the valley. From 
a point near Athol there appears to be an opening in the mountain 
wall which bounds the valley on the east. In this break lies the 
upper or south end of Pend Oreille Lake. The lake is easy of access 
from this direction and small steamboats will take one to almost any 
place along its shores. Spirit Lake lies on the west side of the valley, 
and a little farther south is Fish Lake.. The largest lakes, Pend 
Oreille, Hayden, and Cceur d’Alene, are on the east and south sides of 
the valley. All these bodies of water have resulted apparently from 
the damming of the lateral valleys by sand and gravel brought down 
by the glacier é 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 155 


The Spokane International Railway approaches the Northern 
Pacific lne on the right near milepost 43, runs parallel with it for some 
distance, and finally goes under it between mileposts 
Athol. 46 and 47, beyond Athol, and disappears on the left. 
Elevation 2,400feet. Originally this valley was covered with a growth of 
Population 281. ‘ . : 
St.Paul 1,465 1niles, SCrubby pine and it was not supposed to be suitable 
for agricultural or horticultural pursuits, but m recent 
years fruit trees have been successfully grown, and now apple orchards 
stretch along the railway for many miles. Although the valley is 
continuous, there is a constriction near Lone Mountain and a division 
of the drainage. The water north of this place finds its way into the 
Columbia by way of Clark Fork, whereas that to the south reaches the 
same trunk stream through Spokane River. Near milepost 51 Lone 
Mountain is a conspicuous object on the right (west). It rises to a 
height of about 1,000 feet above the plain. To judge from the bare 
rocks exposed about its base, the ice has abraded its foot, but whether 
or not the glacier passed over its summit is an open question. 
At Ramsey, a station directly south of Lone Mountain, the rail- 
way is double tracked, the eastbound track diverging to the left, 
to unite again with the westbound track at Rath- 
drum, the next station to the west. In going west- 
aie a et eens, Ward the train gradually approaches the mountain 
mass on the right, and at Rathdrum it is only a 
few hundred feet from the foot of the hill. Here the rock is a schist,’ 
but whether the schist is of Archean age and therefore older than the 
Belt series, or whether it is the Belt, or some younger 
Rathdrum. formation greatly changed, is a question that has not 


Elevation 2,212feet. been settled. At Rathdrum the Northern Pacific 
Population 725. 


Ramsey. 


St. Paul 1,478 miles. CrOsses over a new line—the Idaho & Washington 


Northern Railway. West of the crossing the railway 
runs near the hills on the north for a long distance, but on the left 
it overlooks the valley of Spokane River, which is spread out like a 
map before the eyes of the traveler. Most of the valley bottom is 

farming land, but some of it is too gravelly to be 
Hauser,Idaho. of much value for agriculture. The valley is par- 
Hlevation2,40fect, ticularly beautiful as seen from a point a little west of 
eat des itis eo From Hauser a branch line runs to Post 

’ Falls and Coeur d’Alene, at the foot of Coeur d’ Alene 


Lake, and there is steamboat service on the lake and railway connection 


ee eee ete PS 


1 Schist is a rock in which a parallel or | in layers parallel to the cleavage. Schists 
foliated structure has been developed by | may have been originally sedimentary or 
shearing or by pressure, a process gener- | igneous rocks, but if the schistosity is 
ally accompanied by more or less recrys- | well developed the original character of 
tallization of the material composing it | the rock is generally obliterated. 


156 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


from its upper end to the Cour d’Alene mining district,* described 
below by F. L. Ransome, and thence across the mountains to Missoula. 

Between mileposts 66 and 67 the railway crosses the line between 
the States of Idaho and Washington, the exact point being indicated 
by asign at the roadside. 


The State of Washington has a land area of 66,836 square miles. — 
It was admitted to the Union in 1889. In 1910 it had a population ~ 
of 1,141,990. Owing to its position on the coast, the ~ 
first settlement in what is now Washington was — 
made at a comparatively early date. The places 
to be occupied first were the posts of the Hudson’s Bay Co. Of 
these Fort Vancouver, on Columbia River, established in 1824, was 


Washington. 


the headquarters; and Forts Walla Walla and Nisqually were out- 
lying posts to the east and north, respectively. | 





1The Cceur d’Alene district, whose 
mines yield about one-third of the lead 
produced in the United States, and supply, 
by value, about 85 per cent of Idaho’s 
annual output of metals, lies high on the 
western slope of that northward pro- 
longation of the Bitterroot Range which 
is sometimes called the Coeur d’Alene 
Mountains. Itistoturn the flank of this 
lofty barrier that the main line of the 
Northern Pacific swings northwestward 
down the valley of Clark Fork and then 
westward by Pend Oreille Lake. 

From the east the district is served by 
a branch of the Northern Pacific which 
leaves the main line at De Smet (change 
at Missoula) and, following the old Mullan 
wagon road, crosses the range by a high 
pass at the head of St. Regis River. From 
Spokane, on the west, the traveler may 
choose an all-rail route via the Oregon- 
Washington Railroad & Navigation Co.’s 
line around the south end of Coeur d’Alene 
Lake, or he may proceed by one of three 
railway lines to the town of Coeur d’Alene, 
at the north end of the lake, and there 
embark on a steamer which connects at 
Harrison with the trains of the Oregon- 
Washington Railroad & Navigation Co.’s 
line to Wallace, in the heart of the district. 

Were it not for the mines, the Cour 
d’Alene district would be nearly as com- 
plete a wilderness now as when Mullan 
constructed his road across the moun- 
tains 56 years ago. It contains almost no 
arable land, and the timber, while good 


enough for mining purposes, would prob- 
ably not have been sufficient inducement 
to bring railways into the region. Mining 
is the one paramount industry of the dis- 
trict, and upon it all others depend. 
Approximately 5,000 men are employed 
in the mines and concentrating works, 
and the total population of the district is 
estimated at 12,000. 

Wallace, the principal town and the 
seat of Shoshone County, contains 3,000 
people and is situated at the confluence 
of Canyon and Ninemile creeks with the 
South Fork of Coeur d’Alene River. This 
situation and the fact that it is the termi- 
nus of the Oregon-Washington Railroad & 
Navigation Co.’s line from the west and 
the Coeur d’Alene branch of the Northern 
Pacific Railway from the east make it the 
chief distributing point of supplies for 
the district. 

Although the Mullan road passed 
through what is now the most productive 
part of the district, 20 years elapsed 
before anyone realized that the steep, 
thickly forested hillsides visible from the 
road concealed great deposits of lead- 
silver ore. It was not until 1884 that 
attention was called to the mineral re- 
sources of the region by the exploitation 
of the gold-bearing gravel and quartz 
veins on Prichard Creek,-in the northern 
part of the district. Discovery of the 
lead-silver veins on the South Fork of 
Coeur d’Alene River soon followed, and 
by 1888 these had overshadowed the gold 


157 


For a number of years the hunting and trapping of fur-bearing 
animals was the chief occupation, but gradually the forest was cleared 
away and farms established. From the necessity of getting rid of the 
heavy forest developed the lumber business, which from the earliest 
settlement down to the present time has been the leading industry 
of the State. In 1909 the value of the timber and lumber products 
was $89,000,000. 

Agriculture at first flourished only along the Sound, west of the Cas- 
cade Mountains, where rain is abundant; and the eastern, semi- 
arid part of the State was utilized only for the grazing of cattle, 
horses, and sheep. Recently much of the land in the Yakima and 
Wenatchee valleys and along the Columbia has been reclaimed by 
the construction of irrigation works, and now it is renowned the world 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 





deposits in productiveness and value. 
Since 1903 the district has produced con- 
siderable copper and of late years in- 
creasing quantities of zinc. 

The production of Shoshone County 
(which is practically that of the Coeur 
d’Alene district) for 1913 was as follows: 
Gold, $81,749; silver, 9,337,109 fine 
ounces; copper, 5,097,894 pounds; lead, 
296,740,946 pounds; and zinc, 21,415,565 
pounds, valued in all at $20,767,410. 
The total value of all the metals produced 
in the district since mining began is ap- 
proximately $262,608,000. 

The mines that have been most pro- 
ductive of lead-silver ore during the past 
few years are the Bunker Hill and Sulli- 
van, Morning, Hercules, Last Chance, 
Senator Stewart, Standard-Mammoth, 
and Hecla. The Tiger-Poorman, at 
Burke, once a large producer, has been 
worked out. The Standard-Mammoth is 
also nearly exhausted, but a continuation 
of the ore body has been found in the 
adjoining Greenhill-Cleveland mine. 
The one large copper mine of the district, 
the Snowstorm, has yielded ore of the 
gross value of about $11,000,000. 

The rocks in which the Coeur d’Alene 
ores are found belong to the Belt. series. 
These beds in the Coeur d’Alene district 
have been crumpled into folds and have 
been intruded by masses of molten mate- 
rial (magma) which, on cooling, solidified 
as a granitic rock known as quartz mon- 
zonite. During or after the solidification 
of the igneous rock the region was trav- 








ersed by great cracks or fissures along some 
of which took place movements amount- 
ing to thousands of feet, producing what 
the geologist terms faults. In other places, 
where the disturbance was less, hot solu- 
tions, probably connected with the intru- 
sion of the granitic rock, deposited the 
ores, partly as fillings of open cracks but 
largely as replacements of the adjacent 
rock by chemical processes. After the 
intrusion of the granite and the formation 
of the deposits of ore, an uneven layer of 
rock, probably some thousands of feet in 
thickness, was gradually removed by the 
action of weather and streams. This 
erosion exposed the once deeply buried 
granite and the ore. 

The principal mineral of the lead-silver 
ores is galena (sulphide of lead) which in 
this district invariably contains some sil- 
ver. Other common minerals of metallic 
luster associated with the galena are py- 
rite (sulphide of iron), pyrrhotite (mag- 
netic sulphide of iron), chalcopyrite (sul- 
phide of copper and iron), and sphalerite 
(sulphide of zinc). The characteristic 
waste mineral of nonmetallic luster as- 
sociated with galena, that is, the gangue 
of the ore, is siderite (carbonate of iron). 

The ores, as mined, carry, as a rule, 
from 5 to 50 per cent of lead and from 
3 to 45 ounces of silver to the ton. All 
but the highest grades are concentrated 
in the district, by milling, to a product 
containing about 50 per cent of lead 
and from 15 to 55 ounces of silver to the 
ton, 


158 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


over for the quality of the apples produced. In many districts fruit 
raising has been carried to the extreme, and now there is a tendency 
to the greater cultivation of alfalfa and grains. One of the most 
interesting features of the agricultural development of Washington 
has been the transformation of the lava plateaus of the central and 
eastern parts of the State into great fields of wheat that stretch for 
miles without a break. The success of dry farming in this region 
made Washington one of the great wheat-raising States of the 
country. In 1909 its yield of wheat was worth: $35,000,000, and its 
forage crops $17,000,000. 

Washington produces yearly metals valued at $1,000,000, but 
the chief mining industry has been and still is the mining of coal. 
Coal was first mined in 1860 m Whatcom County, and a little later 
near Issaquah, in King County, but shipment to San Francisco did 
not begin until 1871. Since that time many mines in several fields 
have been developed, and the industry of mining grew rapidly until 
it reached its maximum in 1910. It declined then because Wash- 
ington coal came into direct competition with the fuel oil of Cali- 
fornia. It is estimated that in 1913 fuel oil replaced 5,000,000 tons 
of coal in the markets tributary to Puget Sound. The seater oy the 
coal mined in Washington in 1913 was $9,243,137. 

The products of the State are valued about as follows: Manufac- 
tured products (1909), $220,000,000; agricultural products (1909), 
$103,000,000; mining products (1913), $17,000,000. 


Beyond the State line the railway continues along the north side 
of the valley, but the valley is not so wide as it is farther east. Apple 
orchards are numerous and in places extend along the track for 
miles without a break. 

Near milepost 76 the hills on the right (north), which are in plain 
view, take on a different aspect, and a close inspection shows that 
they are capped by a flat-lymg mass of dark rock. This is the 
Yakima basalt, one of the principal lava sheets of the great Columbia 
River basalt which, together with that of nearly the same age in the 
Snake River valley of Idaho, constitutes one of the most extensive 
lava plains in the world. The lava flooded all of central and south- 
ern Washington and large areas in Oregon and Idaho, and the traveler 
will see little else in the way of hard rocks from Spokane to the east 
foot of the Cascade Mountains. It flowed against the mountains on 
the east, and fiery streams extended up the valleys heading in this 
range. Mithareh some of the lava lies east of Coeur d’Alene Lake, 
it is uncertain ae far it went in the Spokane Valley, for it has been 
covered by the glacial gravel. The exposure just noted is the first 
to be seen by a apa coming from the east. 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 159 


Between mileposts 77 and 78, west of Irvin, the railway crosses 
Spokane River, the water of which is so beautifully clear that every 
object on the bottom is plainly visible. Near this point the military 
road constructed by Lieut. Mullan crossed Spokane River. This 
road entered the main valley from the southwest, east of the present 
city of Spokane, and then extended up the valley to Coeur d’Alene | 
Lake. 

West of the railway bridge the surface of the country to the south 
is littered with large bowlders composed of many kinds of hard rock 
which the ice brought down from the north. From their abundance 
it is supposed that these bowlders mark the point of greatest advance 
of the ice and are in the nature of a terminal moraine, although no 
distinct ridge or other characteristic topographic feature has been 
left in the valley, as is usual at the extremity of a glacier. 

Although the basalt covers most of the country in this vicinity, 
it did not engulf all the hills, for the highest knob on the north, Little 
Baldy, composed of schist, stood above the molten flood that rolled 
into this region from the west. The low hills on the left are com- 
posed wholly of basalt, which also shows near the river in the out- 


skirts of the city of Spokane. 


Here it can be seen at close range as 


the train passes through the deep cuts on its way to the station. 





1 Spokane River has been beset by 
many difficulties in carving its present 
channel. At the time the great flood of 
lava inundated the region, there was 
evidently a deep valley here which was 
flooded with the molten material. This 
inundation did not come as one great 
wave, but doubtless flood succeeded 
flood with fairly long intervals between 
until the lava was piled up to a great 
thickness, nearly obliterating the orig- 
inal channels. 

When the outpourings of lava ceased, 
the water found an outlet in part along 
the old courses, but in most localities the 
eruptions changed the face of the entire 
country, so that the streams were com- 
pelled to carve for themselves new valleys 
in the hardened lava. This process was 
well along when the great glacier, laden 
with the rocky fragments it had plucked 
from the valley walls, swept down the 
valley. The materials carried by the 
glacier were distributed by the streams 
flowing from the ice front and scattered 
over the entire valley, filling it to the 
height seen to-day. Thus for the second 


| of power. 


time the stream was obstructed and its 
valley greatly modified, but with the 
disappearance of the ice it again set to 
work to carve a valley suitable for a 
stream of its size. Work was begun near 
its mouth, but gradually its gorge has 
been extended upstream until the fall, 
which marks the point where active 
cutting is in progress, has reached its 
present position in the city of Spokane. 
Here the river makes a series of plunges 
over precipitous slopes of basalt. Orig- 
inally this formed a beautiful fall as the 
swirling waters broke against the dark 
rocks in their downward plunges, but now 
the stream has been obstructed for the 
third time by a dam, and the water has 
been diverted by man for the production 
The beauty of the falls is gone 
forever, for in seasons of drought there is 
scarcely a trickle where once the river 
leaped and boiled in its mad rush over 
the jagged rock. To-day the water drives 
great turbines that generate 30,000 horse- 
power for municipal uses and for operat- 
ing mines and mills in the Coeur d’Alene 
district. 


160 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


Spokane (spo-kan’) is a division terminal of the Northern Pacific 
Railway, and is the center of an extensive agricultural and mining 
region that is frequently referred to as the ‘‘inland 
empire of the West.’’ A settlement was early estab- 
lished at this place, and in 1881 it was incorporated 
as Spokane Falls, but later the second part of the 
name was dropped. ‘The city is served by main lines 
or branches of all the transcontinental railroads crossing the States 
of Washington and Oregon, including the Canadian Pacific. Fort 
Wright, one of the more modern military posts of the Government, 
is attractively situated on the bluffs of the river just below the city 
limits, but is not visible from the train. 

On leaving the station at Spokane (see sheet 22, p. 164) the train 
runs down the broad valley for some distance, but not within sight 
of the falls, and then turns to the left up the valley of Latah Creek. 
Here there are extensive hillside cuts on the left, exposing beds of 
dark sand and gravel, which were evidently derived largely from the 
basalt and were washed into this side ravine by floods that came 
down the main valley. This is evident from the way in which the 
gravel is bedded. 

The valley of Latah Creek, as well as that of Take Creek, up which 
the railway goes, is marked by a number of vrell-develed terraces 
that were doubtless formed at the same time as or soon after the 
formation of the delta described above, and a correct interpretation 
of their meaning would throw much light on the conditions prevailing 


Spokane, Wash. 


Elevation 1,919 feet. 
Population 104,402. 
St. Paul 1,505 miles, 





1 Careful inspection shows that the sand 
and gravel is cross-bedded and that the 
cross-bedded layers dip to the south, up 
Latah Creek. Figure 33 represents the 
edges of the beds as they are exposed in 
This sandy material 


the side of the cut. 


top of the bed A and laid down as a thin 
layer on the sloping surface AB. This 
action was continued until the basin of 
the side stream was filled to the line AC. 
The main stream was then deprived of 
this dumping ground, for that was filled 





FIGURE 33.—Cross-bedding in glacial gravel on Latah Creek 1 mile west of Spokane, Wash. 


was deposited as a delta—that is, the 
material was washed into the side valley, 
then occupied by a lake, and at first was 
laid down on the slope AB. The point A 
marks the surface of the water, above 
which the material could not be piled. 
Additional material was carried along the 


to the same height as the river channel, 
so the gravel was dropped in the main 
valley, building it up to the height of D. 
At this new height the process was re- 
peated until the side valley was filled to 
the line DF and eventually to the high- 
est point the water reached. 


SHEET No. 21 


_____IDAHO-WASHINGTON 
| RANE Tay —-— Fre 

ISA WK 

23 wey | 


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Coeur et Alene Lake 


116°30' 





GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 


OF THE 


NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 


From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 


Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
information collected with the assistance of this company 


UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


GEORGE OTIS SMITH. DIRECTOR 
David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 


ee RS 


Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 
lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 
. Sheet of that name. 


we 


ea ee 


BULLETIN 611. 


EXPLANATION 
Thickness 
in feet 

A Glacial outwash gravel and sand Quaternary 

B_ Lava flows (Yakima basalt) Tertiary 

F Impure limestone (Newland) 4,800 
| G Quartzite and shale (Ravalli quartzite) 8,000 

H_ Bluish quartzite and shale 


(Prichard formation) 8,000 |. -Algonkian 


; . (Belt series 
In places formations F, G, and H, eS 


have not been separated and the 
entire mass is called simply Belt 


| series 


| 
| J Granite, gneiss, and schist 





ng 


ax! 
Gare 
1 Oz 
Scale 500,000 7 
Approximately 8 miles to | inch 5 


12 5 10 ‘5 20Miles 
cj 


10 Is) 10 15 20 25 30Kilometers 
| 


N 


Contour interval 200 feet 
ELEVATIONS IN FEET AGOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 
The distances from St. Paul. Minnesota. are shown every 10 miles 


The crossties on the ratiroads are spaced | mile apart 


| 











Priest et 





SHEET No. 2i 








































































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aN eS SY SE ay; 
iS POE V7 LOG, RS (22 
By. = 


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Sates OE 
















-Fernan Lake 


DALENE 
\ Coeur &Afene Lake 






116°30' 





ENGRAVED AND PRINTED BY THE U.S.GEQLOGICAL SURVEY 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 


161 


at that time, but unfortunately no one has studied them carefully 
enough to read their history in detail. 

The bedrock on all sides is the basalt, which consists either of hard, 
dense rock that represents the interior of a lava flow or the more 
scoriaceous material of the upper part caused by the expansion of 
steam.' 

Although the flows of lava were very extensive, either the molten 
material did not completely engulf the hills composed of older rocks, 
or the lava that buried them has since been removed, uncovering the 
schist at the surface over small areas. Such an area can be seen on 
the left (east) just before reaching Marshall (see fig. 34), and there are 


other areas farther on. 
The schist is easily dis- 
tinguishable by its light 
olor. 
f old rocks in the midst 
f the flood of lava are 
ound only near the mar- 























arly hilly. 


levation 2,137 feet. 
opulation 757.* 
. Paul 1,514 miles. 


e next station. 


! Molten lava, as it issues from the earth, 
always charged with steam. While the 
va remains underground the steam can 
t escape, but when the lavareaches the 
ace the pressure is relieved and the 
eam expands and collects in bubbles, 
ich rise to the surface and burst, giving 
the clouds of vapor that always rise 
m a moving flow of lava. Many bub- 
es, however, can not escape, and they 
come, as it were, frozen in the upper 
rt of the flow, giving it a vesicular or 
neycombed appearance, as can be seen 
m the train in many places. 


95558°—Bull. 611—15 Le 





Such occurrences oieni 





FIGURE 34.—Island of gneiss or schist in the lava (Yakima 


basalt) near Marshall, Wash. 


ins of the lava plain, where the depth of the once molten mate- 
ial was never great or where the underlying surface was particu- 


From Marshall a branch of the Northern Pacific runs southward 
o the Palouse country. Two other railways that run parallel with 
the Northern Pacific between Marshall and Spokane 
can be seen on the right. 
the Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Co. 
and the other is the Spokane, Portland & Seattle 
Railway. Just beyond milepost 98 the Northern 
acific crosses both these lines and continues on their right to Cheney, 


The nearer line is that of 





Columnar jointing, perpendicular to 
the cooling surfaces and therefore nearly 
vertical, is the most universal and strik- 
ing structural feature of the basaltic flow. 
The columns vary greatly in size and 
regularity of form, their diameters rang- 
ing from a few inches to 6 feet. Cross 
sections of the most perfect prisms are as 
a rule pentagonal (five-sided) or hexag- 
onal (six-sided), and polygons of four, 
seven, or eight sides are also common. 
Columns, such as those described above, 
may be seen in almost every good ex- 
posure of the hardened lava. 


162 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES, 


Near Cheney a branch line turns to the north and runs to Medical 
Lake and Coulee City, in the heart of the Big Bend country, so called 
because it lies inside of the great westward bend of 
Columbia River. The two railways just mentioned 
lie only a short distance to the left, but beyond 
Cheney they bend to the east and can not be seen 
again from the Northern Pacific line, although they 
parallel this lme to Columbia River near Pasco. Cheney is situated 
on the great lava plain of eastern Washington. Near the railway 
the traveler sees little but bare rock, but he can catch glimpses here 
and there of the low rolling hills that constitute the great wheat belt 
of this part of the State. The railway follows in a general way a 
shght depression in the surface, but the traveler may 
be surprised at riding over such a wide stretch of 
country without seeing any flowing creeks or even 
creek channels. In humid regions there is a creek 
channel in every valley. Even in the arid country 
of the Southwest there are established watercourses, which, though 
frequently or generally dry, take care of the occasional flood waters; 
but here there are only shallow irregular valleys, and no stream 
channels are to be seen. ‘True there may be here and there, strung 
out in a more or less definite line, a series of shallow basins holding 
swamps or even shallow lakes, but these have no outlets above 
ground, and if they are connected at all the connection must be by an 
underground channel. It is evident that durmmg most of the year 
there is little running water in this region, as the annual precipitation 
decreases from 18 inches at Spokane to 7 inches at Pasco. Most of 
this is absorbed by the soil, and the remainder finds its way into the 
open layers between the sheets of dense lava and reappears as 
springs in some neighboring canyon or coulee. 

A possible explanation of the peculiar scouring of the surface rocks 
into basins without any definite stream channels is that it was done 
by ice. This subject is more fully considered in the footnote given 
on page 163. 


Cheney. 


Elevation 2,345 feet. 
Population 1,207. 
St. Paul 1,521 miles. 


Tyler. 


Elevation 2,301 feet. 
Population 421*. 
St. Paul 1,532 miles. 





'F. ©. Calkins states: ‘“‘It [the soil] is 
so porous that rain or melted snow is 
quickly absorbed by it, so that a smaller 
proportion is lost by run-off or by evapora- 
tion from puddles than would be lost if 
it were more clayey and impervious, and, 


the water is held in them by adhesion 
or capillary attraction and yields to the 
force of gravity only slowly and to a com- 
paratively small extent.’’? Therefore a 
large proportion of the slight precipita- 
tion is kept sufficiently near the surface 


on the other hand, it is not loose enough 
to allow the water to sink rapidly and 
become unavailable, as it does in a deep 
sandy soil. The spaces between the 
particles of the fine loam are so small that 


to be used by the growing wheat, and 
successful grain culture is possible with 
a rainfall that would be insufficient in a 
soil of less advantageous physical consti- 
tution, ; itty 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 163 


At Fishtrap there are a number of small hills on both sides of the 
track which appear, to one familiar with glacial topography, to be of 
glacial origin. When examined closely they are 
Foard to be composed of light-colored clay or shale 
which is very different fate the material deposited 
by ice. The peculiar hummocky form of the hills is 
due to the softness and fineness of the material composing them and 
to the peculiarities of erosion in a semiarid climate. Few if any 
watercourses are developed in the hills, hence they have no regular 
pattern or arrangement. The rains are Aion only a few gullies 
are established, nid the development of such gullies tends to produce 
isolated Penical mounds rather than low continuous ridges, such as 
would be produced in similar material in more humid regions. 

As the material composing these hills is fine and evenly bedded, 
it was probably deposited in a body of standing water, and as its 
age, so far as the evidence has been obtained, eoureepand ol im a gen- 
eral way to that of similar beds (Ellensburg formation) in the Yakima 
Valley, it is considered to be a part of that formation. The bulk of 
the sediment deposited in this great lake was dropped near shore in 
the vicinity of the Cascade Mountains, and only the finer material 
was carried as far east as Fishtrap. This was deposited over the 
basalt in a thin sheet, which has been largely removed, leaving iso- 
lated outliers like es described above.! 

Near milepost 123 there is some rough country that shows on a 
small scale the effect of erosion on the sheets of basalt. In a more 
humid region most of the sharp edges of the tables would be rounded 
off and the slopes would be gentle and regular, but in a semiarid 
country each remnant of a lava sheet or other hard bed of rock stands 
up sharp and distinct as steps on the hillside or as isolated tables or 
mesas on asmall scale. Thus the sheets of lava were not swept away 


Fishtrap. 


Elevation 2,282 feet. 
St. Paul 1,536 miles. 





1 Although there is little doubt about | whether these bowlders were brought di- 


the origin of the Fishtrap Hills, there is 
considerable uncertainty in the minds of 
geologists as to whether there has ever 
been an incursion of the northern glaciers 
into this region. The fact which leads to 
the belief that ice once occupied this 
country is the presence, far southwest of 
Spokane, of bowlders of granite and quart- 
zite 12 to 20 inches in diameter. These 
bowlders are not numerous, but occasion- 
ally the traveler, if his sight is sufficiently 
acute, may catch glimpses of them, even 
from the swiftly moving train. Generally 
the presence of such bowlders is taken as 
a certain indication of the former occu- 
pation of the country by ice, but it has 
not yet been satisfactorily determined 





rectly by the glacier and were dropped 
from its moving mass, whether they were 
floated along on cakes of ice in a large 
lake, or whether they were simply washed 
out over this plain from the ice front when 
it was in the vicinity of Spokane. If the 
bowlders here were as numerous and as 
large as the bowlders in North Dakota west 
of Missouri River there would probably 
be no question as to their glacial trans- 
portation, but in the State of Washington 
they ate so few in number and are scat- 
tered over so wide an extent of country 
that some doubt naturally arises as to 
whether moving ice was the vehicle by 
which they were transported to their pres- 
ent resting places. 


164 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


layer by layer, as one peels an onion, but were cut through in many 
places, leaving rugged remnants fee and there that make a distinct 
type of badland topography. 

The railway descends into a pronounced valley and reaches the 
town of Sprague, named for Gen. J. W. Sprague, 
a former manager of the Pacific coast division. Rail- 
way shops formerly here have been removed and the 
town is now dependent on the dry farming of the 
adjacent uplands. 

The train runs down the valley and at a distance of 3 miles from 
Sprague comes to the upper end of Colville Lake. This strip of 
water adds a pleasing variety to an otherwise rather monotonous 
landscape, but it lacks the picturesque setting of trees and mountains 
that give to the lakes farther east their charm and beauty. The 

railway curves in and out around the projecting spurs of basalt on 
the west shore to a point near the outlet of the lake and there turns 
more to the west and crosses the basaltic plateau. 

Many bowlders of foreign material such as granite and quartzite 
may be observed near the south end of the lake and along the line 
westward at least as far as milepost 138, but it is doubtful if any can 
be found beyond that point. 

Ritzville, the largest town between Spokane and Pasco, is the center 
of a rich agricultural district. This is a part of the great wheat belt 
of eastern Washington that has been so wonderfully 
developed by dry-farming methods. About a mile 
beyond Ritzville a branch line turning to the right 
(west) and known as the Ellensburg cut-off has been 
graded and is said to be ready for the rails. When 
this line is completed it will not only open up a large area of farming 
land but also give a line to Ellensburg, west of Columbia River, 100 
miles shorter than the present route.’ 


Sprague. 


Elevation 1,906 feet. 
Population 1,110. 
St. Paul 1,546 miles. 


Ritzville. 


Elevation 1,822 feet. 
Population 1,859. 
St. Paul 1,570 miles. 


Walla Walla River. In order to hasten 
construction of the main line of the 


'The traveler may wonder why the 
Northern Pacific, having Puget Sound 


as its objective point, should bend so far 
to the south after leaving Spokane and 
then turn to the north after crossing Co- 
lumbia River at Pasco. The first inten- 
tion of the company was to build a line 
to Portland down Columbia River, as 
well asa line to Puget Sound across the 
Cascade Mountains, and a coast line con- 
necting Portland and Puget Sound. At 
the time it was decided to recommence 
construction, in 1879, the Oregon Rail- 
way & Navigation Co. had built a line 
from Portland up the south bank of Co- 
lumbia River to Wallula, at the mouth of 


Northern Pacific it was decided to utilize 
this line for the transportation of material 
for that part of the through line which 
lies east of Pasco and to postpone for a 
time the construction of the line along 
the north bank of Columbia River and 
that across the Cascade Mountains. Im- 
mediately after the main line was com- 
pleted, in 1883, the construction of the 
line across the Cascade Mountains by way 
of the Yakima Valley was begun. The 
controlling reason for swinging the line 
so far to the south was to make the connec- 
tion with the Oregon Railway & Naviga- 


SHEEET No. 22 





tT 7°30, Sheet No.2] WASHINGTON ~ 









oc ; 
ff Clear 4 





EXPLANATION | 
A Glacial outwash gravel and sand Quaternary 
D Light-coiored clay ( Ellensburg formation) | | Tertiary 
E. Lava flows (Yakima basalt) J (Miocene) 
J Gneiss and schist 














| 
| 
: 


1g Z0Miles | 
20 25 30Kilometers 


0 feet 
EAN SEA LEVEL 


re shown every !0 miles 


spaced | mile apart 





se SIRE een Se a 
Trae ic Ae 


BULLETIN 611 | SHEEET No. 22 


—— 





WASHING 








18° ) 17°30: Sheet No.2] 


sees ’. $F Galena 














Espansie@” oe \ Madiga 
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GEOLOGIC AND TOPOG. GR. SG sveeeake. MAP BD Set en ens Coe Cant | 
30' -——~--—-----________ 4G NDS eatin eed a ae ee oe) 
: \v gr iE 
OF THE x 438 eo E 
NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE CS wal 
\ ) va ys 3O 
Les \ / es ah O Rint 
Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas x ms ie ~ 
Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by a . 
the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional scary 





information collected with the assistance of this company 


formation OS 


| eAmber ie < 
O S 





UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 
David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 








oe 
ek00-—~ le Sluille 


1915 





| 
From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington if 
| 





cera AO x: prague : ia? PRodna | : 
Concordg@e | £L./906 4» “ \ | 
EXPLANATION | 




















@ Marcellus = POO a a — ae Laker |= A 
= a, - | 
Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the it La 
lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic ; “ c 
Sheet of that name. |S of 
Bi< 
hee 
v es ae , fe A Glacial outwash gravel and sand Quaternary 
bs a Sc i es D Light-colored clay (Ellensburg formation) | \ Tertiary 
= er A a E Lava flows (Yakima basalt) J (Miocene) 
J  Gneiss and schist 
\e) 
see 
’ 5 
| ye 
a 
O 
2 
—— — a 
eset 
Scale 500,000 
Approximately 8 miles to | inch 
? 10 \ Z0Miles 
ise ° 10 iS 20 25 30Kilometers 


1ittdbereteedia denned nee encanto net nerhnentonetiened 


Contour interval 200 feet 
ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 


The distances from St. Paul. Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles 


The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 








)] 8 ° Se ee Sai nS ee ae aes Sana 








ENGRAVED AND CRINTED BY THE U.S.GEGLOGIGAL SURVEY 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTR. 165 


Beyond Ritzville are the stations Essig (see sheet 23, p. 168), Paha, 
and Ruby, but there is little of interest until, as the train descends a 
' valley at milepost 164, the main line of the Chicago, 
ak ah na Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway is seen on, the left. 
non ae eal This road diverges from the main line of the Northern 
St. Paul 1,587 miles. Pacific at De Smet, a short distance west of Missoula, 

and crosses the Coeur d’Alene Mountains by a more 
direct route than that of the Northern Pacific by Pend Oreille Lake. 
At Lind the two roads are on opposite sides of the valley, but a mile 
below the town the St. Paul road crosses the Northern Pacific on a 
substantial steel and concrete viaduct. Below the crossing the 
St. Paul line keeps down the valley, but the Northern Pacific climbs 
the slope beyond the creek so as to pass into another valley draining 
to the south. In ascending this ridge it is interesting to note that 
in a number of cuts where the rocks are well exposed the basalt is 
overlain by white silt or clay and fine sand that covers the entire 
hillside and conceals every irregularity of the hard rock beneath. 
This material has been taken as indicating the presence of a lake in 
glacial time, similar to glacial Lake Missoula, but the absence of 
lines of stratification (bedding) shows that the material has had a 
different origin. The question of the origin is bound up in the 
general Tertiary history of this region.’ 

After reaching the summit at Providence the railway begins the 
long descent of a little valley which leads eventually into the open 

plain above Pasco. This is one of the least interest- 
Providence. ing stretches, so far as scenery is concerned, along the 
Blevation 1,549 feet. ~~ Northern Pacific, for the valley is so narrow that the 
St. Paul 1,595 miles. F 3 : : 
| views from the train give no idea of the character of 
the upland. The valley is carved in basalt, which shows in places 
in rugged ledges, with the white loess mantling everything. 


ae gS IR RASS 

tion Co.’s railroad, as stated above, but | Co., a corporation owned jointly by the 

there were other reasons, such as the | Northern Pacific and the Great Northern 
possibilities of obtaining large traffic in | companies. 

the Yakima Valley and the fact that any ‘The Tertiary history of Oregon and 
crossing of Columbia River above Pasco Washington begins before there was a 
involved much heavier grades and more | Cascade Range, at a time when the terri- 
expensive construction than the present | tory now occupied by that range, as well 
‘crossing. The construction ofthe line by | asmuchof the region lying to the east, was 
the Northern Pacific along the north | a lowland in which shallow estuaries ex- 
bank of Columbia River was delayed so | tended for long distances from the coast, 
long that Congress declared a forfeiture of | while to the east were fresh-water lakes, 
that portion of its charter and of the ac- | In these shallow waters and on the low 
companying land grant, and it was not | land near them was laid down a thick 
until 1908 that a railroad was constructed | series of beds of shale, sandstone, and coal, 
along the north bank of the Columbia by | now known as the Swauk and Roslyn for- 
the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway | mations, of Eocene (Tertiary) age. The 








166 


GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


Near milepost 192 a branch line of the road enters the valley from 
the right and gradually descends along the valley wall. This branch 
unites with the main line at Connell and serves to 


Connell. 
Elevation 845 feet. 
Population 778.* 

St. Paul 1,615 miles. 


connect this place with Coulee City and the Big Bend 
country to the north. 
Below Connell the valley walls grow more rugged, 


and at Cactus siding (milepost 200) a very prominent 
wall of lava is seen on both sides of the valley, but more particularly 





deposition of these beds was interrupted 
by a flow of basaltic lava which was the 
beginning of a great series of flows that 
reached their maximum development in 
the succeeding Miocene epoch. 

Sheet after sheet of basaltic lava was 
poured out over a territory 250,000 square 
miles in extent that included the greater 
part of Washington, all of eastern Oregon, 
part of California, and a large area in the 
Snake River valley of Idaho. (See map 
of Columbia River plateau on sheet 23.) 
It is probable, however, that the erup- 
tions in the Washington area began at a 
somewhat earlier date than those of the 
Snake River plains of Idaho, which seem 
to have been in part contemporaneous 
with the last flows that occurred along 
Columbia River. 

It is a generally accepted view that 
the molten rock was forced up through 
great cracks or fissures in the crust of 
the earth. This conclusion is ‘based 
mainly on the following evidence: (1) 
The volume and extent of the lava 
floods are so enormous that it is difficult 
to conceive of their eruption from ordi- 
nary craters; (2) the rarity of the frag- 
mental materials known as tuffs, breccias, 
etc., indicates a welling up through fis- 
sures without the explosive action char- 
acteristic of crater eruptions; (3) old fis- 
sures through which the floods of lava 
came forth have been discovered—fissures 
now filled with the cooled and hardened 
basalt in observable connection with over- 
lying sheets of lava. 

The basalt was not poured forth in one 
great outburst, but is made up of a great 
number of layers or individual flows 
which in places are thousands of feet in 
aggregate thickness. About 20 such flows 
are exposed in some of the bluffs of Colum- 


bia River. Each one represents a dis- 
tinct outpouring of lava, the eruptions 
being separated by intervals of time, some 
of which must have endured for centuries, 
for they are marked by beds of soil in 
which trees grew to considerable size 
before being charred and buried by later 
flows. The eruptions of lava, especially 
in the later stages of activity, were sepa- 
rated also by periods in which other 
materials accumulated, consisting of vol- 
canic ash and beds of sand, clay, and 
gravel laid down in Jakes or rivers. 

In addition to the massive flows that 
constitute the greater part of the forma- 
tion there are beds of fragmental volcanic 
material, such as bombs and smaller an- 
gular fragments of lava. Such materials 
have either been thrown up to great 
heights and rained down upon the sur- 
rounding country, or, mixed with hot 
water, have flowed over the surface as 
mud. The fragmental materials are not 
so widely distributed as the massive flows. 

The quantity of material poured out 
during this period was enormous. The 
greatest thickness of the lava and asso- 
ciated deposits is not less than 4,000 feet, 
but if it averages only 500 feet thick over 
the entire area, seemingly a very moderate. 
estimate, it would make a mass of 24,000 
cubic miles, or a cube nearly 30 miles in 
height. Even this great volume may be 
far less than that actually poured out. 

Coincident with the later stages of the 
lava eruptions occurred a subsidence of 
the area east of the present Cascade Range, 
and a large lake was formed, in which ac- 
cumulated material derived from the land 
area on the west. Before the basaltic 
eruptions had ceased a great volcanic dis- 
turbance occurred in the Cascade region 
and lava of another kind (andesite) was 





U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


BULLETIN 611 PLATE XxXil 


A, WHITE BLUFF OF THE COLUMBIA, 20 MILES ABOVE PASCO, WASH, 


Composed of white volcanic ash (Ellensburg formation). Man on horseback on top of bluff indicates size of 
bluff. 





B. COLUMNAR LAVA AT CACTUS SIDING, 5 MILES SOUTH OF CONNELL, WASH. 


On cooling the lava has formed columns or prisms which in places are remarkably regular. The columns stand 
at right angies to the cooling surface of the flow. 


"Ysera ‘awees “alli 79 sing Aq payySuAdoo ydeusojoyy ‘ain}es} Japjo ue si UDIYM fasueYy apedsed OY} Jo UO} e/d peoiq dy} 9AOGKE SpUR}s 9U0D DIURD/OA SY} ‘a19A9S Pue plod 


‘HSVM ‘HSINSddOL YVSN SNIVYL OISIOVd NYSHLYON SHL WOYS N3SS SV 'SWYGVY LNNOW 





IIXX JLW1d +$b9 NILZTINA AZAYNS 1V9IDO1039 *S ‘Nh 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTER. 


on the right (west). 


167 


This cliff is about 150 feet high and in the lower 


part shows beautiful columnar structure (see PI. 


Mesa. 


Elevation 687 feet. 
Population 366.* 
St. Paul 1,625 miles. 


XXII, B), but the columns are small, and they may 
not be visible from the train. 
tinue as far as Mesa, but beyond that station the val- 


The rugged walls con- 


ley opens and the walls are lower and have lost much 


of their rugged character. 


poured forth. The eruptions were accom- 


panied by explosions, which produced 
large quantities of tuff, volcanic ash, and 
pumice. While the volcanic eruptions 
were in progress, the rocks of the Cascade 
region were folded and crushed and some- 
what uplifted, and the streams, made more 
powerful by the increase in grade due to 
the uplift, carried vast quantities of the 
andesitic material eastward to the lake 
_ basin previously described. Inthisbody 
_ of fresh water the waste material was de- 
_ posited as mud, sand, or gravel, together 
with some sheets of basaltic lava that 
. apparently marked the last expiring gasp 
_ of the giant forces which had previously 
' poured forth such irresistible floods of this 
_material. Inthe Yakima Valley the beds 
thus laid down have been named the 
Ellensburg formation. Here the sedi- 
ments are coarse, indicating nearness to 
the margin of the lake and to the source of 
supply, but farther out in the basin, ac- 
cording to I. ©. Russell, the material 
_ deposited in this lake is largely white silt, 
composed chiefly of volcanic dust and ash 
that were blown out of the new set of 
volcanoes which then were active to the 
west. This material is exceedingly fine 
and forms the White Bluff on Columbia 
River some distance above Pasco (PI. 
XXII, A) and the isolated hills at Fish- 
trap. 
_ Up to the close of the lake period of cen- 
tral Washington the Cascade Range, as it 
‘is known to-day, did not exist. During 
the deposition of the Ellensburg formation 
the area now occupied by the range was 
‘being worn down by streams, and finally 
‘it reached that state of low relief that is 
called a peneplain. Its surface was then 
not very far above sea level and it bore 
little resemblance to the region as it is 
_known at the present time. 
_ The great uplift of the Cascade Range 


came as the closing event in the Tertiary 
; 


| 





history or the opening chapter in the Qua- 
ternary. These mountains were not 
formed by a volcanic outburst, although 
such events were of common occurrence 
in this country, but they are the result of 
a gradual uplift of this part of the earth’s 
crust, which produced a great arched pla- 
teau about 5,000 feet above sea level. 

Volcanic activity was not entirely sus- 
pended in this region, and here and there 
vents were formed from which poured 
forth lava and volcanic ash, and large 
cones were built upon the surface of the 
deeply eroded plateau. These are the 
great conical peaks which are such ma- 
jestic features of the Cascade Range. 

The next great epoch in the geologic 
history of this region was that of glacia- 
tion, when great ice sheets came down 
from the north and also from the local 
mountains. The plain of the Columbia 
was invaded by two ice masses—one from 
the northeast by way of Spokane, and the 
other coming down the valley of Okan- 
ogan (o-kan-og’an) River and then across 
the immediate canyon of the Columbia. 
That great river in this time of flood was 
temporarily diverted to a course near Cou- 
lee City, but on the retreat of the ice it 
resumed its original channel. The great 
cold of the glacial epoch left large parts of 
this region without a cover of vegetation, 
and much of the soft material laid down 
in the lake previously described was 
picked up by the winds and whirled away 
to the east, where it finally settled as a 
mantle over the entire region. As the 
winds which transported the dust were 
not markedly periodic and as the fine ma- 
terial settled particle by particle like 
snow, the deposits are homogeneous and 
not marked by lines of stratification. 

Such, therefore, seems to have been the 
mode of origin and the manner of distri- 
bution of the white earth, generally called 
by geologists loess. 


_ 168 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. ‘ 


If it is a hot day in midsummer when the traveler passes down the 
coulee, he may wonder whether the great flows of basalt are not still 
heating the surface. The plain of the Columbia, 
which he is rapidly approaching, has a reputation for 
great heat in the summer, but as it does not show a 
corresponding high temperature in the other parts of 
the year it seems obvious that the great heat is caused 
by the configuration of the mountains and their effect on the move- 
ment of the atmospheric currents. 

South of Eltopia (see sheet 24, p. 172) the canyon followed by the 
railway becomes shallower and finally merges with the broad plain of 
Columbia River. The lava underlies the plain but dips more rapidly 
toward the south than the slope of the surface, and at Pasco, as shown 
by drill records, it lies more than 200 feet below river level. This 
plain is composed of soft clay and sand (Ellensburg formation) and 
back from the river, where irrigation is impossible, it 1s nothing but 
a sagebrush desert. In places the regular surface of the plain is 
interrupted by low dunes of sand which have drifted up the slope from 
the channel of the Columbia. The traveler may wonder what can 
subsist in so desolate a land if he has not yet learned that in many 
places water can be procured by digging and that the soil stores up 
enough moisture to raise fair crops when properly cultivated. The 
climate of the region is semiarid, the precipitation being from 6 to 12 
inches a year. The temperature ranges from a minimum of 10° below 
zero in winter to 110° above zero in summer. 

Pasco is a division terminal of the railway and the center of a large 
irrigated district lying above the town and on the east side of theriver. 
The shade trees and green lawns of the town are in 
striking contrast to the brown sagebrush of the sur- 
rounding country. 

Immediately after leaving the station at Pasco the 
train is upon the great bridge that spans the swirling 
waters of the Columbia,! one of the great rivers of the continent—a 


Eltopia. 
Elevation 598 feet. 


Population 252.* 
St. Paul 1,634 miles. 


Pasco. 


Elevation 389 feet. 
Population 2,083. 
St. Paul 1,651 miles, 





Washington and the Columbia, under the 
command of Capt. Robert Gray, visited 


‘One of the most interesting parts of 
the history of the exploration of the north- 


western part of the United States is the 
story of the discovery of the mouth of the 
Columbia, or rather of the failure to find 
it by the many navigators who sailed up 
the western shore for the very purpose of 
discovery. 

In 1788 an English captain discovered 
and named Cape Disappointment, just 
to the north of the river’s mouth, without 
recognizing in the inlet to the south the 
mouth of the greatest river on the coast. 
In 1789 two Boston trading ships, the 


the coast fora cargo offurs. Gray thought 
he saw indications of the mouth of a large 
river in latitude 46° 10’ but did not stop 
to investigate, and after completing a 
voyage around the world his vessel, the 
Columbia, was again dispatched to the 
Pacific coast in 1791. He spent the win- 
ter at Nootka Sound, on Vancouver Island, 
and in the spring cruised south from the 
Strait of Fuca in search of the river 
which he thought he saw three years 
before. On his way he met the English 


° 


a 


—— oe 


ao 


cw Ge ag, een ees ee ee. ee Se Ee err 


SHEET No. 23 


2 ee a 


























119° WASHINGTON 
4 
? 
Cm. Hy 
ary 
cene) 
zoo | 
| 
| . <4 
| CP eran Mutat 
| Ws =" Klemmer os 
| Nv Go. Schragg INS — | | 
} [Lee ~ « 
ie _ be aw _ Essig | | 
\ 2" ah aay” 
| ; ry f | 
\ a ‘B0Qb pe / lee ft 
| \ sa ePaha 
D \ eo . ge 1./576 | 
eee CA~+ 47 
ai, Naya ue Es ane 
(@ of Ag { ; N 
‘ Zé Sm ees 7 PAL S 
a Roxboro Ow Air Tee nes . 
a oe 0 PAMOEL. 422 | vo 
y Pee 5 ht ies ~ & 
{ 05 a SON ND Ss 
ie i i ; Pe sk, 
Pa + ——-§ Providence / 
ri 4./5¢9 | 
es e° oe ; / \ /\ 
| \ E eatrice ( / % LL 
) \ (EL./4O/ Wirt ge lho y, \ 
: \ ofFisoo OE OF / Ry | 
N i va J / \ y 
ice i ‘Af (- -° yy WY | 
| . | : / : 
form or \ / cit eae 4 : | 
\ EL.M74% ee / wane | 
E D fi “ 
me | "7, ae oes 
Se ! / ky 2 ae 
N / @Hattor i ya! 
a e Of 4072 pe: ie 
Shan6 PAS or ) 
AJ " ‘A a 
>) ct WH 4 
> mery ee 
oO REL. 935 (of 
| ae Y oe 
| \ ae 
E Connell 
oO 41.845 
/ r Sulphur NG 
U 
| Z Onebor + P an ON 
7 520 | 
fe Cactus ms 
: AW EL.720 
| Kg € 
¢ “N 
Mesa E Pf 
| “qr Ae 
“Vale 
p PEL.684 
f ; 
5 Pe \\9° 11830 
Oo a re ie ee eee 





EET No. 
BULLETIN 611 SHEE LAO es 


WASHINGTON 


EXPLANATION 








D Clay and sand (Ellensburg formation) Tertiary 
E_ Lava flows (Yakima basalt) 


(Miocene) 






































































= ab 
iy Bae ie 
ae Klemmer 
( WOR 4c Schragg % 
as 
\ 
| 
\ 
\ . 
D \ ‘ 
i = : eee Mees IS 0 .8§—_ a 47 
| Fi | - x 
of Aap w 
/ tema R 
an Roxboro a 
{ ke os v 
/ 42 re v 
f gare 5 gemtins Se ri te nS 
/ : og oats W Providence / 
Lander L/SGG Ee 
) \ ro, ree \ 
i 1 7 7 / as 
\ ¢ \ Ee Beatric 3 ; Bx 
ie \( ‘ poe! 7 | \ . L740; ~ + mere / Ne a 
i ( “I { eacihH \ OFF I600 ree 2 : . * / 
\\ z . 4, he Sa Ellensbprg \ of RET np ee 
& : ' = ee 
}} Wl >~YY| / Si as TpOgden v Belce \ YU = one i Pe 
{ rt \ . ~. A \ * - = if i i ’ : iia 
) ge ae} \ . : | ZN fice Ci formatio: \ / i F eS 
hy > : 4 in Salt Lake orm on C en : 
( el ress ao ao |? ilzponingham ms ire 
my ALT Ms : Scale 500,000 pong - | kad | | J | 
=: | j Approximately 8 miles to | inch pS d ( | ee ne len eoege 
qo eo 0 Mines | ? 5 ; 10 15 20Miles AL / H H , hy a8 [tate 
He 110" alee £6 ‘ a I Fase a ke a 
\ ilomete ano Ja / : 
THE GREAT LAVA PLATEAU OF COLUMBIA RIVER, STRETCHING SOUTHWARD ACROSS OREGON Vi briiiPin Rapa nae erie ehine OR eiis el tris waar bE OF a: | wie 
AND EASTWARD NEARLY TO YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK : 7. | y 
Contour interval 200 feet = Gis6io 
ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL BS, = a Emery 
me = y €L.935 
The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota. are shown every 10 miles . , oO oft y 
The crossties on the railroads aie spaced | mile apart \ \ 
\ ia \ al 
Y \ \ 
@Q S Connell 
on ‘ 00 Wh 44.845 
So \ U : 
oe x ‘ i ae OREGON 
‘ iff S20 
eee PCactus 
4 \ = se EL.720 oC 
< 
tS ‘ a iVieSa E ae 
2 \ E Reece ay 
\ 


“Vale 
EL.684 


| S; 
ed en oy 
: | ; oar Sheet Mo 2% \\9 











ENGRAVED AND PRINTED BY THE U.S.GEQLOGICAL SURVEY 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTER. 


169 


river that is fed from the melting snows on the mountains of most of 


the northwestern part of this country and a large part of the mountain 


region of Canada. 


Although the Northern Pacific crosses Columbia River only a few 
miles above the mouth of Snake River, the junction of these two 
streams can not be readily seen from the train, but the Oregon- 
Washington Railroad & Navigation Co.’s bridge which crosses just 


below the Snake is clearly visible. 


When the traveler reaches this 


point in his westward journey he has been out of St. Paul only 48 
or 50 hours, but when Lewis and Clark camped at the mouth of the 
Snake in October, 1805, they had been gone from St. Louis 18 months. 
At that time the ownership of Oregon Territory was uncertain and 
most of the men, if not the leaders themselves, believed that they 














Spokane in the year 1811. 


Kennewick. 


Elevation 372 feet. 
Population 1,219, 
St. Paul 1,654 miles. 


Yakima. 


Vista. 


Elevation 576 feet. 
St. Paul 1,659 miles. 


were on foreign soil, as many entries in their journals refer to what 
they expected to do when they returned to the United States, 

The first white man to explore the Columbia above the mouth of 
the Yakima (yak’i-ma), which enters a few miles west of Kenne- 
wick, was David Thompson, who made a trip down the river from 


Soon after passing Kennewick, a thriving town grown up in the 
center of a rich irrigated district on the south side of 
the river, the train crosses a branch line of the 
Oregon-Washington Railroad & Navigation Co. that 
runs up the valley of Yakima River as far as North 


After the dull, monotonous sagebrush plain above Pasco, the 
orchards and fields of green alfalfa are a pleasing sight. 
first seen are those on the lowest bottom of the river, 
but as the railway reaches Vista it is running on a 
second terrace which is also irrigated and under a 
high state of cultivation. 


The fields 
















expedition under Capt. Vancouver going 
north to explore Puget Sound. Gray in- 
formed the commander of one of these 
vessels of his belief that a large river 
entered the ocean near latitude 46°, but 
the English captain had just passed 
that point in clear weather and had seen 
no indication of a river he gave no cre- 
dence to Gray’s report. 

Gray persisted in his search and was 
ewarded by finding the river’s mouth as 
e had expected and by sailing over the 
bar on May 11, 1792. Gray named the 
river after his ship, and although for a 
ime the name Oregon, given by Jonathan 





Carver to the river in 1778, was employed, 
it was soon abandoned and Columbia 
came into general use. ; 
Gray’s discovery and the careful and 
accurate entry in his log book of the cir- 
cumstances connected with it were 
largely instrumental in later deciding in 
favor of the United States the controversy 
with Great Britain over the ownership of 
Oregon Territory. Gray’s services to his 
country are commemorated by the names 
of Grays Bay and Grays Point, on the 
river nearly opposite Astoria, and of 
Grays Harbor, a commodious bay on the 
Washington coast farther north. 


170 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES, 


Although the Northern Pacific Railway in a general way follows the 
valley of Yakima River, it does not adhere closely to that stream, 
but cuts across country, thereby avoiding a big bend. Along this 
cut-off there is no irrigation and the country is desolate in the ex- 
treme. Before water was put upon the Yakima Valley it was a 
sagebrush plain just as extensive and just as desolate as the one here 
traversed. Water is the wizard that has transformed this desert 
into a land of blossoms, and as time goes on more and more of the 
waste places of the earth will be redeemed in this manner. 

Not only is the surface of the country from Vista to Kiona monot- 
onous, but the rocks, while interesting in so far as they record the 
past history of the region, are monotonous and poorly exposed. As 
explained on page 165, the rocks in this part of the valley consist of 
sandstone and shale formed from sediment laid down in lakes or on 
the surface of the land, interspersed with great sheets of lava (basalt) 
that covered most.of the country. The lava was not poured out in 
a single flow, but the entire region is underlain by a succession of 
lava sheets. The shale and sandstone are soft and in only a few 
places show at the surface, but the outcrops of the sheets of basalt 
are marked by dark ledges along the hill slopes and the streams of 
rock fragments that descend from them. 

At Kiona the railway approaches Yakima River, 

Kiona. and just after passing the station the traveler can 

Elevation 525 feet. Obtain a good view down the valley, which includes 

a Sa ens well-cultivated farms and the bridge of the Oregon- 
Washington Railroad. 

A short distance west of Kiona the valley is much restricted and 
all irrigation ceases. The river is bordered by rugged walls of basalt, 

, a good view of which can be 
7, obtained from milepost 31 
Y by looking back from the rear 






UY | / yyy Wf of the train. From this point 
LAY yy ae Y yf fp o7 arctuik 
WHI if YY us Yj of vantage it will be seen that 

| the valley is not smooth and 
FIGURE 35.—Section of Yakima Valley east of Prosser, 


Wash., a valley within a valley. regular, sloping gently from 

the tops of the ridges to the 

river bank, but that it is compound, consisting of a rather broad outer 
or upper valley and an inner rocky gorge cut in the floor of the large 
valley. The shape of the valley is represented by the accompany- 
ing diagram (fig. 35), in which the outer broad valley is represented 
by the section ABC and the inner valley by the sharp cut at D. 
Usually such an arrangement is considered as indicative of two 
periods of valley cutting under somewhat different conditions, but 








THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. (By as 


here the forms have not been studied with sufficient care to make 
a determination possible. There is so great a difference in the hard- 
ness of the basalt and the soft sandstone associated with it that the 
inner valley may be due to a harder and much more massive bed of 
basalt near the bottom and not to different conditions of erosion. 
About Prosser there is a large area of land under irrigation and in 
a high state of cultivation. It is a pleasing change from the dark 
or dull-gray color of the barren areas to the brilliant 
green of the fields of alfalfa, grass, or oats; from the 
stunted vegetation of the sagebrush plains to the 
thriving orchards which stretch away in the distance 
almost as far as the eye can see. It1is no less pleasing 
to pass from the dry plains of the sun-scorched desert, where clouds 
of dust fill the air, to a land where running water is seen in every 
irrigation ditch and the land is so covered with rich vegetation that 
there seems no chance for it to become dry and parched.! 

The railway runs some distance back from the river through irri- 
gated fields, but gradually climbs to a terrace which shows on the 
| left about a mile beyond Byron. This terrace is 
doubtless built of the soft material washed into the 
valley by the streams, but the amount of such mate- 
rial is variable, as the basalt appears at railway level 
in a number of places. On a clear day the high peaks of the Cascade 
Range, 100 miles away, can be seen from the vicinity 
of Pasco, but the distance is so great that at first 

sight the traveler may be disappointed in them. A 

St. Paul 1,703 miles. better view can be obtained near milepost 58, 6 miles © 
1 beyond Mabton, but even from this place the peaks 
‘are not as striking objects as they are from the region about Top- 
penish, farther northwest. 


: 


_ 17The Yakima Valley has been aptly 













Prosser. 


Elevation 671 feet. 
Population 1,298. 
St. Paul 1,691 miles. 


yron. 


Zlevation 702 feet. 
"St. Paul 1,696 miles. 


abton. 


“Flevation 725 feet. 
Population 666. 


ent time two units are practically com- 


‘characterized as ‘‘Washington’s vale of 
' plenty.’’ It is a region of small farms 
‘intensively cultivated and contains some 
‘of the most valuable agricultural lands in 


pleted—the Tieton, embracing approxi- 
mately 34,700 acres near North Yakima, 
and the Sunnyside, covering about 
100,000 acres some 6 miles below. 


“the world. Its farm homes are attractive, 
‘and in variety of crops and profitable 
vyields it ranks favorably with southern 
California. A number of lakes on the 
headwaters of the streams of the Yakima 
“drainage basin are being converted into 
| storage reservoirs, and it is estimated that 
“when the work is completed the water 
‘supply will be sufficient to irrigate about 
| ae acres. The land lies in a suc- 
cession of valleys, and its reclamation will 
_ be accomplished by units. At the pres- 


This valley is the home of the big red 
apple, and its fruit lands range in value 
from $300 to $1,200 an acre. The soil 
consists of volcanic ash and gravel. Hop 
and vegetable growers vie with the neigh- 
boring fruit growers, and forage crops and 
dairying are also very profitable. The cost 
of water right on the Sunnyside unit is $52 
an acre, and on the Tieton unit $93 an 
acre. The Government land has all been 
filed upon, and farms can be acquired now 
only by purchase from private owners. 

i 


| 
| 
| i 


: 
{ 


> 


172 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 

After passing Empire (see sheet 25, p. 176), Satus, Toppenish Ridge, 
and Alfalfa the traveler can get a full view of Mount Adams, far te 

the west. Although it is here more than 50 miles 
Alfalfa. distant, its great height (12,307 feet above sea level) 
Blevation 723 feet. makes it conspicuous. (See Pl. XXIII, p. 167.) T 
sc Paul iti7 miles, one unaccustomed to judging of the magnitude of dis 

tant mountains, the first view of Mount Adams may be 
disappointing, but after watching it for some time and comparing i 
with objects near by the observer will find that its enormous bulk be 
comes more apparent. How cold it seems in its eternal pall of white! 
The mountain looks like some patrician of old, holding himself eree 
and aloof from all surroundings! Long ago it was an active voleano 
emitting molten lava, but its activity ceased, and for unknown ages 
the mountain has stood the cold, calm, rugged peak it is to-day. 
Just beyond Mount Adams and from many points of view hidden by 
it is Mount St. Helens, which within the memory of the white man 
has showed signs of volcanic activity. It is apparent that the vol- 
canoes of the Cascade Range, while possibly extinct, have not been 
so for a great length of time. That they may be only smoldering is 
indicated by the recent outburst of Lassen Peak, in California, 
which stands along the same line of volcanic disturbance.! Mount 
Adams remains a magnificent spectacle, until the view of it is shut 

off by the Atanum Ridge, north of Parker. Although 
Toppenish. the country about Toppenish lies within the Yakima 
Hlevation 765 feet. Indian Reservation, it is well watered by ditches that 
EPrints receive their supply from the river in the vicinity of 

the next ridge, which can be seen in the distance. 
The land is well cultivated, though not so intensively as that covered 
by the Sunnyside reclamation project across the river. 

While enjoying the beautiful spectacle of Mount Adams, the 
traveler should look a little farther to the north where, if the atmos- 
phere is clear and no cloud banners intervene, he may be fortunate 
enough to catch a view of the summit of Mount Rainier (Tacoma), 









‘The view from Alfalfa or Toppenish |{ the region was subject to the action of 
gives to the traveler an excellent idea of | the. elements, and the rain and streams 
the height and character of the Cascade | reduced the surface to a nearly uniform 
Range and of the volcanic cones which | plain only a slight distance above sea 
project above its apparently even crest | level. From this plain the present Cas- 
line. In order, however, to understand | cade Range was formed by a gradual up- 
fully the relations of these cones and the | lift of the surface along the axis of the 
character of topography of the platform | mountains. This upward movement con- 
upon which they are built, it is necessary | tinued until the surface was raised to a 
to know something of the geologic history | height of 4,000 feet above sea level in the 
of the range and of the conditions which | south and about 8,000 feet in the north, 
have tended to produce its present form. | In this uplifted mass the streams carved 

After the great lava sheets were spread deep channels or canyons, almost de- 
out and somewhat deformed by folding, stroying the plateau and leaving only the 


ey 
ot 


4 


SHEET No. 24 







Sheet No.23 119° WASHINGTON 


H 





f630 


/ y GG J is 
je GS Wie 


\ A i Le ah 

, opia C 

D E j FL 96 lon (M800 
ooh” i 


f ENIX 


as 
Oi 2) = 
¥ Yakima 


\ 






Si s\X 
pf Sagemsoa 
SRF OEL.567 





‘* ee ae 







AW Two Rivers 


Attala 


EXPLANATION 


, 


Thickness 
in feet 
\ Stream deposits (alluvium) ; Quaternary 
2 Clay, sand, and gravel (Eliensburg formation) 300 | Tertiary 
{ Lava flows (Yakima basalt) 2,000- 4,000 f (Miocene) 
poet; 119° 
ee eee 








Sl ee ee 





GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 


OF THE 


NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 


From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 


Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
information collected with the assistance of this company 


UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 
David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 


1915 


Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 
, lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 
Sheet of that name. 


J ES, 5g ~ y 
Xt j J “Nar / aa ~— Pasco, 
max _&Belrna z a7 x EL. 389 BM 
ys abton-— se ‘Euclid E << eg - ee, of 
bf Lh TZS5 R rnd yA K | ‘pail Te a= < i SS Cit * 
hi, rons. Vag is = Ves enn ee » = i fi 
B) wea, 71.708. SS FO am See Seo Re sa Oty D Hamers 
eee gio SN Cahilluvikgacn he 
Jee PG ear x “AN <p SeeBurbank: 
ee mks BPR Hedge Ox Mo 8 
a pn sae Prat Ss adhe ~S ~ 
| Or } a : ; ‘ <= 
220, ERE on Two Rivers 
Hi } & SOSA 
5 | ¥ # : ~ QTR 
2 ‘ VOSS aS. } 
* 9 } y S : iS i 
is ci Hoven, Attala 
3 r b \ x 
% sj 


: 5541 i Re ee ieee = 


BULLETIN 611 | Shae SHEET No. 24 












119° WASHINGTON 


[2 eee eee 


Sheet No.23 





<7 
ee 





\\} 
1\ x 
HW ONS 
aN 
\\ 
AS \ 
ae \ 
S Ag 
oa \ 4A) 


\ 












‘ \W= ime — =} 
es af I 3 | Se cu 
ne 24 ys fh 


Graindview x0} 





hormation 

































: 
Scale 500,006 | 
Approximately 8 miles to | inch 


i i ' 
| 5 10 5 Z0Miles | Thickness 


in feet 


EXPLANATION 





POs oes 10 1S 20 25 . areal A Stream deposits (alluvium) 


Contour interval 200 feet n 


Quaternary 


Clay, sand, and gravel (Fllens Pon is Bare 
ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL : Y & Elle asburg tormation ) 300 | 


Tertiary 
2,000-4,000{ (Miocene) 


; E Lava flows (Yakima basalt) 
The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miies 


The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 





a 





-ENGRAVEO AND PRINTED BY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 





















ountain. 


| Wapato. 


Elevation 865 feet. 
Population 400. 
‘St. Paul 1,729 miles. 


ithe east. 
but are separate folds. 


ormation. 


Parker. 
north of Parker. 





THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 


173 


4,408 feet in altitude, the highest peak of the Cascade Range, but 
| his view gives him little idea ‘of the magnitude and grandeur of the 


| ‘The great sheets of basalt that underlie the Yakima Valley are in 
places thrown into low folds by pressure in the crust of the earth 
exerted in a north-south direction, and consequently 
the folds trend at right angles to that direction, or 
nearly east and west. 
hard basalt, they make ridges or mountains across 
the country, the length of the ridge depending on the 
the extent of the fold. The big ize lying to the south of the rail- 
Pway from Kennewick to Mabton is Bipncsed to be of this character, 
although its structure has not been accurately determined. This 
broad upland, from its original cover of abundant and nutritious 
bunch grass, is known as Horse Heaven. 
orth are Toppenish Ridge west of the river and Snipes Mountain on 
These appear to be parts of one general line of disturbance 
In Snipes Mountain the arch is so low that 
he basalt is scarcely visible under the cover of the Ellensburg 


As these folds brmg up the 


The next ridges to the 


The next anticline to the north, which lies north of Toppenish, is 
own west of the river as Atanum Ridge and east of the river as 
Rattlesnake Ridge. 
narrow cut, called Union Gap, through this ridge 
At the south entrance to the gap 
the Northern Pacific crosses the North Yakima — 
branch of the Oregon-Washington Railroad. The 
fap is about a mile in length, and the sheets of lava at the south 
ntrance dip toward the south at an angle of about 20°. 
ite dip on the north side of the fold is not so apparent, for it is 
nuch steeper and in some places the layers are crushed and over- 
urned, so that the dip is toward the south. 


The Yakima has made a deep, 


The oppo- 












igh summits to mark its once even sur- 
ace. When seen from a distant point, 
s from Toppenish, the tops fall into line 
nd have the appearance of an unbroken 
pland mass. 

At the same time that the streams were 
gaged in trenching the mountains, 
ents were formed here and there along 
he range, through which ash and lava 
eached the surface and were deposited 
n the platform of the range. As lava 
low succeeded lava flow, and showers of 
sh fell upon the area surrounding the 


vent, a cone was gradually built up, 
forming the present high peaks. These 
volcanic cones between Canada and Co- 
lumbia River are Mount Baker, Glacier 
Peak, Mount Rainier (Tacoma), Mount 
Adams, and Mount St. Helens. 

The view from Alfalfa or Toppenish 
shows clearly that Mount Adams rests on 
the platform called the Cascade Range, 
but that it is not really a part of that 
range, but rather an excrescence upon the 
apparently rounded, tree-covered surface 
of the plateau. 


174 


GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES, 


In a region in which the annual precipitation is so small (8.9 
inches) as it is in the Yakima Valley the quantity of water flowing 
in the streams and available for irrigation is of the utmost importance. 
In order to determine the volume of water in Yakima River the 
United States Geological Survey maintained for a number of years 
a gaging station in Union Gap, but for the last six years the station 
has been near Wapato, a few miles below the gap. By means of a 
small car swinging from a steel cable the engineer is able to measure 
the velocity of the current at a number of points across the stream, 
and from these measurements, together with other measurements 
of the cross section of the river, compute the volume of water avail- 
able for irrigation and the development of power.! 

North of Union Gap the valley broadens into a parklike country, 
all of which is under irrigation and highly cultivated, except near 
the river, where the land is excessively wet. The original Yakima 
City was situated just above Union Gap, and the station, the only 
remaining structure on the site, can be seen near milepost 86. 
Trouble arose between the railway and the town promoters and the 
station was abandoned, and a new station, called North Yakima, 
established about 4 miles north of the old one. With the growth 
of the new town of North Yakima the older settlement soon died out. 

North Yakima is the largest town in central Washington and is 
the commercial and social center of the Yakima Valley, one of the 
largest areas of irrigated land in the West and one 
that is noted the world over for the fine fruit which it. 
produces. The valley, although semiarid,? is well | 
supplied with water from Yakima River and its tribu-. 
tary, Naches River, both of which head in the Cascade. 
Range, where the snowfallis abundant. Fruit raising is the principal. 
occupation, but there are also broad fields of grain, alfalfa, and hops, 
indicating that the farmers feel the necessity of a diversity of crops, 


North Yakima. 


Elevation 1,076 feet. 
Population 14,082. 
St. Paul 1,741 miles. 











' A gaging station has been maintained 
in this vicinity since November, 1896. 
It shows a mean annual flow of 4,640 
second-feet (a second-foot means 1 cubic 
foot per second), which equals 3,360,000 
acre-feet (an acre-foot is 43,560 cubic 
feet, or the quantity required to cover 1 
acre to-the depth of 1 foot). 

About 1,500 river-measuring stations 
similar to the one at Union Gap are now 
maintained by the United States Geo- 
logical Survey on the more important 
streams in the United States and in the 
Hawaiian Islands. The data collected 
at these gaging stations are of prime im- 


portance in developing the water re- 


sources of the country and are used in 


designing and operating power and irri- — 


gation plants, city waterworks, and other 
works whose establishment and success- 
ful operation depend on a knowledge of 
the quantity of water flowing in surface 
streams. 

? According to the United States 
Weather Bureau, the mean annual pre- 
cipitation in the Yakima Valley from 
1893 to 1903 was 8.9 inches, divided as 


follows: Winter, 4 inches; spring, 2 
inches; summer, 0.7 inch; autumn, 
2.2 inches. 


: 
: 
| 
: 


PLATE XXIV 


BULLETIN 611 


U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 





YAKIMA CANYON, WASH. 


A, 


The hard basalt rapidly breaks down under the influence of the weather, and the broken fragments largely 


conceal the underlying rocks, 





COLUMNAR ANDESITE NEAR YAKIMA CANYON, WASH, 


B. 


‘adpa s1a}eM Sy} 0} UMOP sadojs Ule}UNOLW dU} S18A09 Jsas0} AABOY OY 


‘HSVM ‘SOTSHO3SSY 3yV1 In4slLnvag 





AXX 3LV1d 119 NILZTING ASAYNS 1VOIDO1039 °S "nN 


175 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 





‘so that in case of an oversupply of one they will have another to fall 
back upon. 

The voleanic rocks that border the Naches Valley and extend within 
a few miles of North Yakima furnish an interesting example of a 
recent lava flow. The hummocky surface of this plateau between 
Naches River and Cowiche Creek, although in places covered by sage- 
brush and bunch grass, exhibits the essential features of a cooling lava 
flow, and at many points on its borders the characteristic jomting 
due to contraction on cooling is shown in rare perfection. (See Pl. 
XXIV, B.) 

North of North Yakima the railway crosses Naches River and then 
passes through Yakima Ridge in a short canyon cut in the thick layers 
of basalt, which have here, as in the other ridges to the south, been 


folded into a low anticline.! 


‘After having traveled up Yakima 

River for nearly 100 miles and passed 
through a number of basalt ridges, the 
traveler may be surprised at the apparent 
disregard of the stream for the ridges and 
valleys. As stated previously, the prin- 
cipal arches and troughs into which the 
rocks have been bent trend in a nearly 
east-west direction, and if the streams fol- 
lowed similar courses they would encoun- 
ter little difficulty in reaching their des- 
tinations. But instead of following the 
synclinal valleys Yakima River flows 
almost due south and crosses in this part 
of its course no less than seven ridges of 
arched or upturned basalt. What made 
the stream select its present course, and 
why did it persist in this course across the 
arches of hard rock when it might have 
found an outlet to the Columbia on the 
east by an open synclinal valley? 

In order to answer this question it will 
be necessary to go back in imagination to 
a time before the ridges were formed, when 
the Ellensburg formation (sand, gravel, 
and volcanic ash) was laid down in a shal- 
low lake on the Yakima basalt. Finally 
the lake was filled or there was an uplift 
of the region which changed it to a land 
area. Over this newly made land streams 
flowed down the slope on their way to 
the sea. In this epoch Yakima and 
Columbia rivers were formed, before the 
great arches in the rocks had been pro- 


duced. After the streams were well es- 
tablished, in about the same courses that 
they follow to-day, a great north-south 
pressure wrinkled the rocks into a series 
of broad, shallow troughs and rather short 
arches. Many persons think of such a 
movement as having occurred suddenly 
and as having crumpled the rocky layers 
as leaves of paper may be crumpled in the 
hand. If the movement had been sud- 
den, then the southward-flowing stream 
would have been dammed wherever one 
of the arches crossed its pathway, and 
Yakima River, instead of flowing as it 
does to-day, would have been broken into 
a number of separate streams, each of 
which would probably have found an out- 
let to the east into Columbia River. As 
this did not happen, it seems evident that 
the movement was not rapid, but was so 
slow that the stream cut the rock away as 
fast as it was forced up. As the down- 
ward cutting of a stream in hard rocks is 
done very slowly, it follows that the arch- 
ing of the strata must also have been a 
very slow process, probably occupying 
thousands of years. Although the move- 
ment was slow, it persisted until some of 
the arches attained an altitude of 2,000 or 
3,000 feet; but the stream maintained its 
course and now presents the apparently 
anomalous feature of cutting directly 
through ridge after ridge, disregarding the 
structure or topography of the region. 


176 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


The canyon is short and north of the ridge lies Selah Valley, one 


of the prettiest valleys in this part of the country. The land is rolling 
or even hilly along the sides of the valley, but water 


Selah. is carried in a high-line canal, so that all the hills and 
Elevation 1,108 feet. slopes below it are highly cultivated, and orchards 


Population 1,524.* Z 
sienaal ial mies, eXtend as far as the eye can see. The basalt dips 


under the valley, but a little farther north it rises” 


above water level, and the river has cut a sharp canyon with vertical 
walls from 50 to 70 feet high. The main canyon, which begins near 
milepost 99 (see Pl. XXIV, A) is cut through three separate but 
parallel ridges of basalt, each of which was produced by a low up- 
arching of the lava, as shown in figure 36. At the entrance to the 
deeper part of the canyon the great sheets of lava, each representing 


an individual flow, rise more steeply toward the north, their dip 


(20° or 25°) corresponding in a general way with the south slope of 
the ridge. The walls of the canyon increase in height until at mile- 
post 103, where the railway crosses the river, they are nearly 2,000 
feet high. Here the rocks are about horizontal, indicating that this 





FIGURE 36.—Fold in basalt north of Roza, Wash., as seen from a point near Wymer, looking southeast. 


is the middle (axis) of the fold, from which the beds dip in opposite 
directions. North of the axis the layers of basalt dip 30° or 35° to 
the north. 

The northward dip continues to Roza, near milepost 106, where 
two lateral valleys entering on opposite sides of the river mark the 
depression or trough between the ridges. ‘Toward the east the ridge 
south of Roza extends for a long distance, but in the other direction 
it dies down rapidly, and in a distance of 5 or 6 miles has disappeared. 

Beyond Roza the beds of lava rise northward about 30° up the slope 
of Umptanum Ridge, which is a few hundred feet higher than the one 

south of Roza. The axis of the fold is reached about 


Roza. milepost 109, and beyond this point the beds can be 


Bee na, seen to bend over in a great arch; but the traveler 1s 
. Paul 1,756 miles. oe anne - ° 

so close to the rocky wall that it is impossible for him 
to obtain a satisfactory idea of the size or shape of the fold until he 
has gone some distance past it. At Wymer siding, between mileposts 
110 and 111, a good view of the fold on the east side of the river can 
be obtained by looking directly back from the rear of the train. 
(See fig. 36.) From this point the fold is seen to be unsymmetrical, 
with the steepest dips on the north side, 


>. ie 






SHEET No. 25 


WASHINGTON 


ws 








Sheet No.24 












! ze . ( i 
unnyside Junction’, 
El, 728 


chish creek SEES ays 








. Empire™®@ 
(EL. 727 





SHEET No. 25 
BULLETIN 611 : - 








ASHINGTON 







W 





ter 











GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 


OF THE 


NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 


From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 





Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
information collected with the assistance of this company 


UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY : 3 




































GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR : oe 
: E | @ 
David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer oO 
B46) ar 
tS RS. [| 307 | pas 
Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the ; N 
lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic Scale 500,000 S$ 
Sheet of that name. | Approximately 8 miles to | inch i. 
; 5 eal) 15 20Miles = / % 
wht PP | 5 
1o 5) id 15 20 25 30Kilometers / ~ 
ee Sn oe ee ne Oe Oe SS SU | ; 
; N A 
Contour interval 200 feet I Ee | eae \ sot P00 
/ : aoe \ SN 
ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL : \ Sas eee Se = Se 
The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles \ ae — a She “*\ Gra nger 
The crossties on the ratiroads are apes / mile apart * \ Su nny Siae Ju ee : Pe Outloak 
\ a Ee 











| EXPLANATION 
Thickness 
-) in feet 
a | A Stream deposits (alluvium) | 
, ee ees Quaternary 
Lava fiows (Tieton andesite)| 
D Gravel, sand, and clay (Ellensburg formation) 1,500] Tertiary 
E Lava flows (Yakima basalt) 2,000- 4,000!  (Mioéene) 
































| THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTR. | iy i 


All the lava folds crossed so far in the Yakima V alley are either 
steepest on the north side or overturned, like that of Atanum Ridge 
at Union Gap. This overturning toward the north indicates that 
when the folds were produced the thrust came from the south, and it 
continued not only until the beds were arched but until the arch was 
pushed over, so that the beds on the north side stand nearly vertical 
| or dip steeply toward the south. The northern limit of this fold js 
| marked by the valley of Umptanum Creek (see sheet 26, p. 186), 
| which enters the river near milepost 114. 
| North of Umptanum Creek lies Manastash Ridge, which, like the 
| others already crossed, is an arch in structure; but the fold is much 
flatter than those down the river, and its shape is not apparent from 
the train. The layers of basalt rise gradually northward from the 
mouth of Umptanum Creek, and they appear to be nearly horizontal 
in the great Beavertail Bend between mileposts 115 and 118. The 
axis of the fold is more than a mile north of this bend and not far 
from milepost 120, where the railway again crosses to the east side 
-of Yakima River. From this crossing the layers of rock descend 
rapidly northward, and the great sheets of basalt that form the walls 
of the canyon for more than 20 miles dip below water level and the 
‘train emerges upon another broad flat that seems to be even more 
“extensive than the one at North Yakima. This also is mostly under 
cultivation, and the view on the right as the train leaves the canyon 
ds particularly charming, as one looks off to the distant mountains 
across a wide stretch of fertile fields and orchards, crossed here and 
| there by lines of tall trees planted as windbreaks. 

_ Although much hard rock is exposed in the Yakima Valley stone 
‘suitable for building material is very scarce. The basalt is a lasting 
f material, but its dark color renders it unsuitable for 
; buildings and it is used only for foundations and | 
Seale for road metal. For the latter use it is admirably 
é adapted. On the north slope of Manastash Ridge, 
‘about 2 miles east of Thrall, the sandstone of the Ellensburg forma- 
‘tion has been hardened by the pressure that arched and overturned 
the basalt so as to make it a very good building stone, and it has 
‘been utilized in some of the business blocks of Ellensburg. 

_ Ellensburg is the end of a division and a prosperous town in the 
broad Kittitas Valley, which stretches far to the 
‘Ellensburg. east along Manastash Ridge. It is served not only 
Elevation 1,518 feet. by the Northern Pacific but also by the Chicago, 
Bs. Paul 1,777 miles. Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, which gives it an 
+ advantage over most of the other towns of the 
Yakima Valley. Owing to the altitude, the land is much better 
‘ 95558°—Bull. 611—15——_12 















ed 











178 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


suited to the raising of hay and to dairying than that of the lower 
valley. 

A little north of Ellensburg Mount Stuart, far to the north, stands 
up as a narrow, jagged crest carrying much snow. ‘This view is 
not so imposing as that of Mount Adams seen from:a point farther 
down the valley, but the summits here are much narrower than 
that of Mount Adams and the mountain has a more rugged outline. 
The railway is bordered by broad meadows of timothy or clover 
and by fields of oats or wheat that roll in great billows under the 
strong wind that at times sweeps down the valley from the mountains. 
About a mile from the station the St. Paul Railway is visible on the 
right, having crossed Columbia River by a route leading directly 
west from Connell. : 

The bluff on the right near milepost 4 is composed of the Ellens- 
burg formation, which overlies the great flows of basalt and is com- 
posed of white clay Gn most places volcanic ash), sand, and gravel. 
This material is only partly consolidated, but it stands in steep 
bluffs, as can be seen on the right. The material is so soft and the 
slope so steep that in carrying water along the bluff to irrigate lands 
lower down the valley a timber flume had to be built along the 
entire face of the bluff a distance of more than 2 miles. This 
gives an idea of the elaborate and expensive work that must be 
done in many localities in order to obtain the necessary water for 
irrigation. Not only is the first cost of such a flume great, but the 
maintenance is a considerable item of expense which must be met 
every year. 

Just after passing milepost 7 the train crosses Yakima River, 
here a small stream but beautifully clear and pure, and then it 
follows the river bottom, in some places on the bank 
of the stream and in others back at the foot of the 
bluff as the river swings from side to side of its 
flood plain. Near milepost 10 the railway again 
crosses the river, and the St. Paul road is on the other side under 
a high bluff, in which is exposed a prominent band of white volcanic 
ash. At the first sharp curve north of the river crossing the basalt 
is at track level, but it rises up the stream with the soft, stratified 
beds of the rani Pen ets formation which rest upon it and which rise 
in the same direction and at the same rate. 

The canyons south of this place have been cut by Yakima River 
through low rolls or folds in the basalt, but none of these folds have 
been of sufficient magnitude for the river to reach the base of the 
lava sheets; but north of Ellensburg the whole series of rock forma- 
tions has been turned up like the rim of a basin, and the canyon 
which begins at Dudley, 10 miles above Ellensburg, is the cut made 


Thorp. 


‘Elevation 1,647 feet. 
St. Paul 1,785 miles. 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 


by Yakima River through the basalt of this rim. 


179 


Figure 37 shows 


the gradual rise of the basalt northward and its final disappearance 

in the hilltops far above river level. 
In some parts the canyon is bounded by rugged walls of basalt 
which makes it somewhat picturesque, but in general there is little 
to attract attention except the interesting geologic 


Bristol. 


Elevation 1,803 feet. 
St. Paul 1,794 miles. 


section that is exposed here. 
opens out and the sides are covered with scattered 
pine trees that are but the fringe of the great mantle 


In places the canyon 


of forest that covers all of the Cascade Range except the highest 


\ 


N . onl Ul 5 \ 
B Si wi 

TL pare e OPES Dy 

Be epg tor! mise 

elensh ele Ty t 


: (° 
a ral 1t \ Mt 
es) ith cH aeae het eh 
SARA EH Nati TEN a 
Pane yu c STE T Ly ye \ Le y Tutt 
ane wan \ Tet aniies intone 


\ 
\ 
Vir i L ae 


FIGURE 37.—Section showing structure of Yakima basalt north of Ellensburg, Wash. The basalt rises 
from a level below Yakima River near Dudley and is far above track level at Teanaway. 


summits and that once extended unbroken to the shores of the 


Pacific Ocean. 


The basalt rises steadily and near milepost 18 the 


whitish sandstone and clay of the underlying older formation makes 
its appearance in cuts along the St. Paul road, on the opposite shore 


of the stream. 


The traveler should be prepared to see Mount Stuart on the right 
(north) as the train emerges from the canyon, for the view, if the 
weather is clear, is superb and lasts for only a few minutes.’ 

The white sandstone of the Roslyn formation is visible in a low 
bank on the right near the old station of Teanaway. It rises toward 





1 Mount Stuart is the culminating peak 
of aspur which extends eastward from the 
main crest of the Cascade Range. The 
summit of the peak rises to an altitude of 
9,470 feet, or 7,600 feet above the railway 
at Teanaway station. This granite peak, 
with its deeply carved spires and crags, 
more or less covered with snow throughout 
the summer, is the most striking feature 
in the varied scenery of the region; but 
its wildest and grandest scenery lies hid- 
den within its own fastnesses. 

The southern face of the mountain is a 
precipitous slope, rising 5,000 feet or more 

‘above the creek which flows at its foot. 
‘The lower part of this wall can be scaled 
at several points, but by only one route 
has the highest peak been attained by the 
| mountain climber. This peak is so acute 
that the greater part of the available 
a 


} 


4 


space is taken by the United States Geo- 
logical Survey triangulation monument 
which crowns its summit. 

On the north side of Mount Stuart are 
broad and deep amphitheaters, in which 
lie small glaciers and glacial lakes, drain- 
ing northward into Icicle Creek. The 
glaciers immediately below the main 
peak are mere remnants, some of them 
only a few hundred yards across; yet 
these exhibit most of the characteristic 
features of larger ice streams. 

It is apparent that Mount Stuart is 
different from Mount Adams, which, as 
seen from a point near Toppenish, con- 
sists essentially of a gigantic cone resting 
upon the broad platform of the Cascade 
Range. Mount Stuart, as can be seen 
from Teanaway, is rugged in the extreme 
and consists of a serrate ridge with one 


180 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


the north, like the formations observed in the canyon, and it forms 
the southward-facing slope of the great ridge on the right. The red 
rocks on the mountain side on the left are the Teanaway basalt, 
which underlies the Roslyn formation and is of Eocene age. The 
layers of basalt in this mountain are not horizontal but are turned 
up on edge, so that the relation of the Teanaway to the Roslyn is not 
apparent. 

The valley here was formerly covered with dense forest, in striking 
contrast to the valley lower down, where there were few trees of any 
kind until the country was settled. 

Near Clealum a heavy-bedded white sandstone, underlying some 
coal beds, dips to the south with the same slope as the side of the val- 
ley, and consequently it covers the entire hillside. 
Three coal tipples are in sight from the train. Some 
coal is produced here, but most of it comes from 
mines farther from the main line of the railway, 
From Clealum a branch line leads to the right to 
Roslyn, where are situated the mines of the Northern Pacific and 
also of companies that are mining coal for sale. The Roslyn coal 
field is one of the most valuable in the State. It has made its reputa- 
tion largely because of the cleanness of the coal and its good quality 
for steam raising and for domestic use. The Northern Pacific Co. 
uses the coal mined here for all its locomotives and stationary engines 
between the Stampede tunnel on the west and Butte and Helena on 


Clealum. 


Elevation 1,920 feet. 
Population 2,749. 
St. Paul 1,802 miles. 


the east. 


Clealum has also been the supply point for the three 


principal gold-mining districts in central Washington.! 


high point. The difference in the form of 
the two peaks is due to differences in 
materials and in mode of formation. 
Mount Stuart consists of a great mass of 
granite which long ago was forced up 
through the rocks from below but prob- 
ably never reached the surface. Before 
Tertiary time this great mass, together 
with the surrounding sedimentary and 
igneous rocks, was deformed by earth 
movements and possibly was uncovered 
and carved into mountains, though the 
record is not complete enough to deter- 
mine that with certainty. The surface of 
the country was finally reduced to a low- 
land, except the granite mass, which 
owing to its hardness was left projecting 
about 1,000 feet above the plain. Late in 
Tertiary time the Cascade Range was 
formed by a great uplift of the rocks, and 
then the streams began their present work 
of cutting it away. Great canyons were 


eroded in the uplifted mass, and the pin- 
nacles and towers of the jagged crest of 
Mount Stuart have been formed merely 
by the removal of adjacent material. 

Thus while Mount Adams is a moun- 
tain of construction, Mount Stuart is a 
mountain of erosion. No better repre- 
sentatives of the types could be found 
than these two peaks of the Cascade 
Range. 

‘ The coal-bearing rocks of the Roslyn 
field lie in an open trough or syncline, the 
axis of which extendsin a northwesterly 
direction parallel with the main valleys 
of the region. The Roslyn formation, 
which contains the coal beds, is about 
3,000 feet thick, but the coal occurs in 
the upper part alone, and for this reason 
the coal beds are much less extensive than 
the formation which carries them. So 
far as known they are restricted to an 
area about 7 miles long by 34 miles wide, 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTR. 181 


West of Clealum tie railway follows the north bank of the river 
under the cut bank of an extensive terrace of gravel, which is doubt- 
less the outwash from the glacier that once occupied Clealum Valley. 
The road then bends sharply to the south around a narrow point of 
the terrace that has been protected from erosion by a projecting 
boss of the Teanaway basalt. In the early days of railroading in 
the Yakima Valley this was known as Deadman’s Curve, from the 
number of fatal accidents that occurred here, but now with the use 
of block signals the danger has been removed. 

About a mile west of this curve the railway crosses Clealum River, 
which drains a large valley heading far to the north and containing 
Clealum Lake, a body of water 4 miles long and nearly a mile wide. 
At the outlet of this lake the Reclamation Service has constructed a 
low dam to raise the level of the lake and make a storage reservoir. 
It is proposed to increase the height of this dam and thus impound 
a much larger volume of water for use in the lower valley. As the 
railway rounds the next point of the terrace and crosses the river a 
corresponding point is seen on the left, as if at one time there had 
been a continuous ridge across the valley at this place. This ridge 
has many of the characteristics of a terminal moraine, including a 
steep face upstream against which the ice front may have rested, a 
hummocky surface in that part lying to the left (south) of the track, 
and bowlder clay at the bottom of the cut near the railway. These 
features, together with the flat, smooth floor of the valley above, 
indicate that at a certain stage of the glaciation of this region a large 
body of ice came down the tributary valley now occupied by Kachess 


extending from a point just a little east 
of Clealum northwestward nearly to Clea- 
lum Lake. Along the northeastern limb 
of the syncline the coal beds are well 
known, as the principal bed has been 
mined out throughout most of that area, 
but on the southwest side the rocks are 
badly covered, and although considerable 
drilling has been done the extent of the 
workable coal is somewhat problematic. 

So far only one bed, the Roslyn, has 
been worked; another bed of workable 
thickness underlies the Roslyn, but its 
extent and value have never been de- 
termined. The Roslyn bed is remarkably 
regular in thickness and composition 
throughout the district, but the quality 
of the coal improves regularly from Clea- 
lum westward toward the mountains. 
The average thickness ranges from 4 feet 
4 inches to 4 feet 9 inches. The bed is 
not all clear coal but contains a number 


of partings of bony coal. Government 
analyses show that the heating value of 
the coal ranges from 11,950 to 12,980 
British thermal units. 

The Roslyn district contains some of 
the largest mines west of Mississippi 
River, and the field as a whole is the most 
productive in the State. Its output for 
the year 1913 was 1,334,155 short tons, 
or more than one-third of the coal pro- 
duced by the entire State. 

The gold-mining districts in central 
Washington are the Swauk, Peshastin, 
and Negro Creek, and lie from 18 to 24 
miles northeast of Clealum. Placer gold 
has been found in all these districts, but 
the Swauk is particularly noted for the 
coarseness of the gold. Large nuggets 
have been found here, one being worth 
$1,100. Gold was discovered in this 
region in 1860, and at least $2,000,000 
worth has been produced. 


182 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES, 


Lake and extended down Yakima Valley to this point. Here it 
rested for a while, pushing out in front the clay and rock fragments 
that it had ground off the rocky bed over which it had moved, and 
then the water flowing from the ice carried sand and gravel and 
spread them in a somewhat irregular sheet above the till. 

Besides the moraine just described, one lies at the lower end of 
Kachess (ka-chess’) Lake and another just below Keechelus (kee’che- 
lus) Lake. These show that the glacier, after retreating several miles 
up the branching valley, came to a halt and probably readvanced a 
little, piling up the rocky material in each valley as a terminal 
moraine. Kachess Lake, the largest lake in the region, is a beautiful 
sheet of water nearly 6 miles long and a mile wide. A wagon road 
extends to the lower end of the lake, but the upper part is still encir- 
cled by unbroken forest, which covers the inclosig mountain slopes 
to a height of 3,200 feet above the lake. The deep basin in which 
the lake lies was scoured out by the glacier that once occupied this 
valley. The outlet of the lake has been dammed by the Reclamation 
Service and the level of the water raised several feet, thereby increas- 
ing the amount of stored water available for irrigation. 

The mountain side on the left (south), which can be seen to good 
advantage in the journey up the broad valley above the moraine, 
consists of schist (the Easton schist), which is the oldest geologic 
formation that will be seen in the Cascade Mountains. Its exact 
age has not been determined, but it is supposed to be Carboniferous 
or older. It is a part of the great foundation upon which the Ter- 
tiary sediments and lavas were laid down. The rocks on the right 
(north) are the Teanaway basalt, which covers large areas east of 
the summit of the range. Near milepost 36 the sheets of lava that 
make up this formation are well exposed in the high mountain sum- 
mit just north of Silver Creek. The sheets of lava here dip away 
from the valley and they make a rugged mountain front, the steep- 
ness of which has been greatly accentuated by the scouring that the 
old glacier has done along the bottom of the slope. 

Easton, which lies at the foot of the steep climb up to the Stampede 
tunnel, is mainly a place for helper engines to wait until their services 
are needed in pushing up the grade. The broad valley 
which the railway has been following for some distance 
Elevation 2,176 feet. continues directly ahead to Kachess Lake, but just 
tara ak caste beyond Easton the road swerves to the left and 

appears to plunge directly into the hillside. From the 
bottom of the valley the reason for this change of route is not apparent, 
but from any commanding summit in the neighborhood it may be seen 
that Easton is situated at the junction of two valleys, each of which’ 
has a width of nearly 2 miles. The chief difference in the valleys is — 
that they are not at the same level. The Kachess Valley has an alte 


i 
S 


Easton. 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 1838 


tude of 2,150 feet, whereas the old floor of the Yakima Valley, repre- 
sented by the tops of the hills above Easton, is 350 feet higher. It 
is clearly evident that for some reason the Kachess Valley has been 
deepened below that of Yakima River, and that the latter is now 
cutting a narrow trench in its old valley bottom in order to reduce its 
grade to that of the stream which it joins near Easton. These changes 
seem to be connected in some way with the occupation of the valleys 
by glacial ice, but the manner in which it has been accomplished has 
not been worked out. 

Both the Northern Pacific and St. Paul roads follow the river 
through the narrow gorge above Easton, where the stream boils and 
tumbles over the rocky ledges toward the open valley below. The 
sand and gravel carried down by the stream are constantly grinding 
away the hard rocks, but it is a slow process, and many generations 
will pass before the obstruction is removed. The narrow gorge is short, 
and beyond it the railway enters the relatively open valley above. 

As the Northern Pacific crosses the summit of the range near Stam- 
pede Pass, about 9 miles from Easton, it climbs at a steep grade. The 
St. Paul road, which is here on the right, crosses at Snoqualmie Pass, 
11 miles farther north. A short distance beyond Easton the railway 
enters the great mass of andesitic lava flows and tuffs that in this 
region make up the great bulk of the Cascade Range. 

From a scenic point of view the climb to the pass is not striking, for 
the traveler sees only rounded mountain slopes thickly covered with 
timber and the broad valley equally well protected by a tangle of dense 
vegetation. It is reported that bowlders of granite and similar rocks 
have been found perched on the mountain sides from 1,200 to 1,700 
feet above the bottoms of the valleys. These indicate that at some 
early stage of the glacial epoch the glaciers were much more extensive 
than they were at a later stage when the moraines previously described 
were formed. 

One of the most striking features of the valley is the low pass on the 
right, leading to the upper end of Kachess Lake. This pass has an 
altitude of about 2,500 feet and doubtless was an outlet for either the 
drainage of the upper Yakima Valley or that of Kachess Valley, on 
the east. Its cutting and abandonment are doubtless connected with 
the trenching of the old valley of the Yakima above Easton, but the 
conditions which resulted in these changes have not been determined. 

This valley, like the two next east, is occupied by a lake (Keechelus 
Lake) which doubtless had its origin in the erosive action of the ela- 
cier that evidently lay for some time in the lake basin and built the 
moraines around its lower end. Many beautiful views of Keechelus 
Lake may be obtained, either from the wagon road that follows the 
eastern bank or from the St. Paul Railway, which overlooks it on the 
west. (See Pl. XXV, p. 175.) 


184 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


After a long climb the railway reaches Martin, the last station on the 
east side of the range, and a short distance beyond turns sharply to 
the left and faces the east portal of the Stampede 
tunnel. At this point there are visible on the right 
remnants of the old line, which wound up to the 
top of the mountain before the tunnel was built. 

The Stampede tunnel is nearly 2 miles long. So many traims pass 
through it that great difficulty has been experienced in keeping it 
free from smoke and gas, but now an enormous fan has been installed 
at the west end, in a building which the westbound traveler will sce 
on his right as the tram emerges from the tunnel. It 1s expected that 
this fan will free the tunnel of smoke and gas in a very short time. 

Stampede Pass has an elevation above sea level of about 3,600 feet, 
but the long tunnel enables the railway to cross the range at a much 
lower level. In order to mamtain a regular grade 
down. the west side of the range, the track wmds in 
and out and around spurs in a most confusmg man- 
ner to one who is endeavoring to keep directions or to 
see the mountains. From Stampede two lines of rails are visible far 
below on the left, which seem to belong to another road, but later it 
appears that they are parts of a large loop which the Northern Pacific 
is forced to make in order to get down the mountain side. 

The mountain slopes are generally smooth and round, and the thick 
mantle of trees and brush covers all except here and there a lava cliff 
or an old scar that marks the passage of some forest fire.t The out- 
look is confined generally to the valley of Green River, which the 
railway descends, but at one place, if the weather is favorable, a 
fleeting glimpse may be caught of the towering white cone of Mount 


Martin. 


Elevation 2,781 feet. 
St. Paul 1,823 miles. 


Stampede. 


Elevation 2,852 feet. 
St. Paul 1,826 miles. 





1The traveler from the train can get 
only a very imperfect idea of the charac- 
ter of the country, for he is looking at it 
from a position below the level of the 
mountain tops and hence can not see its 
upper surface. Although it is not possi- 
ble to see much of the Cascade Range, a 


study of the contours on sheets 26 and 27 


will show that the mountain summits on 
both sidesof the railway are at nearly the 
same elevation, ranging from 4,000 to 
6,000 feet above sea level. It will show 
also that the range is not sharp crested, 
like those in the vicinity of Helena and 
Butte, buta broad plateau which has been 
so cut into by the streams that its origi- 
nally regular surface has disappeared, 
leaving only a labyrinth of narrow branch- 
ing valleys and steep-sided hills. 





Sheet 26 also shows the location, about 


12 miles south of the Stampede tunnel, of 
Naches Pass (altitude 4,923 feet) and the 
old Naches trail, which was the first road 
to be opened across the Cascade Range 
north of Columbia River. The early ex- 
plorers learned of this route from the In- 
dians and utilized it in their wanderings 


| around the headwaters of Yakima River. 


It was not, however, used to any great 
extent until the rush of homeseekers 
about 1850 made it desirable to find a 
shorter route to the Puget Sound ports 
than that by way of Fort Vancouver, on 
Columbia River. Accordingly in 1853 


the Naches trail was made passable for 


wagons, though probably a pretty rough — 


road, and many settlers found their way 


to the Sound by this route. 


THE NORTHERN 


PACIFIC ROUTE. 185 


Rainier. This view may be had on the right while rounding the 
extreme point of the loop about 2 miles west of Stampede. The 
mountain is in view only for a moment and then is hidden by the 
nearer slopes. 

The rocks in the valley of Green River are the same as those seen on 
the east side. They consist of lava flows and beds of volcanic tuff that 
have been tilted in various directions. These rocks are known as the 
Keechelus andesitic series and most of them are of Miocene age. 
They represent the great floods of lava and fragmental material that 
were poured out before the Cascades were formed. They now form 
part of the broad platform upon which the great volcanic cones of 
Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, and Mount St. Helens are reared. 

The train runs down the mountain slope on the left side of Sunday. 


from the south. At present the road makes a long loop up Green 
River, but a new line is being constructed that will cut off this loop. 
The valley of Green River, as well as that of Sunday Creek, is broad 
and rounded and shows clearly that it has been cleared and modified 


by a glacier. 


Creek to the junction of that stream with Green River, which comes 
The development, maximum extension, and retreat 
: 


of the glaciers of this region are described below by Bailey Willis.’ 


1 Glacial development began in the 
‘high mountains. The climate, at one 
time milder than that now existing, grad- 
‘ually though not continuously increased 
‘in severity. As cold seasons grew longer 
and warm ones shorter, snow banks in 
the shadows of high peaks increased in 
volume and drifts accumulated in hol- 
lows less protected fromthesun. As they 
grew, the snow banks consolidated to ice, 
and, flowing downward, became glaciers. 
Each canyon received an onward-moving 
‘ice stream proportionate in size to the 
tributary area above it. The air was 
chilled, precipitation increased, and gla- 
ciers extended, and thus the effect of 
climatic change was accelerated. The 
mountains became mantled with white, 
except over sharp, wind-swept peaks and 
ridges. Issuing from the foothills, the 
elaciers spread and adjacent ones coal- 
-esced, forming broad piedmont glaciers. 
A piedmont glacier (that is, a glacier 
at the foot of the mountain) is related 
to the mountain or alpine glaciers which 
feed it as a lake is related to its tributary 
streams. 
Three great piedmont glaciers met in 
the Puget Sound basin. One was fed 





from the Olympic Mountains, on’the west; 
a larger one gathered along the base of 
the Cascade Range, on the east; the lar- 
gest flowed south from the area between 
Vancouver Island and the mainland of 
British Columbia and poured a great 
mass of ice westward into the Strait of 
Juan de Fuca and -another into Puget 
Sound. Tongues of these piedmont gla- 
ciers advanced along the valleys until 
opposing ice streams met and coalesced. 
Then the ice mass deepened, as water 
may deepen in a lake. Land divides 
became peninsulas and _ isolated hills 
stood as islands. Hills of the Puget 
Sound basin were finally submerged, the 
ice reaching a thickness of 2,500 feet or 
more in the present site of Admiralty 
Inlet, the main channel leading to Puget 
Sound, and the southern extremity of the 
ice sheet spread beyond Tacoma and 
Olympia on the south and west. 

Finally the glaciers ceased to increase 
in the mountains and to deepen in the 
valleys as the climate changed either to 
milder seasons or to less precipitation, or 
both, a change due to ultimate causes, 
which, like those that brought on glacia- 
tion, are not understood. Then followed 


186 


GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


Although the railway is steadily descending as it follows Green 
River, the canyon grows no deeper, for the reason that the westward 
slope of the top of the plateau in which it is cut is 
about the same as the grade of the stream. In the 
vicinity of Lester the stream flows about 3,000 feet 
below the tops of the highest hills on either side, and 
this depth is maintained for a considerable distance. 

Hot Springs (see sheet 27; p. 196) was once a noted resort, with a 
large hotel on the right of the track; but a number of years ago 
the hotel was destroyed by fire, and it has not been 
rebuilt. Green River is now utilized by the city of 
Tacoma for its water supply, and great care is exer- 
cised in keeping the stream free from pollution. The 
intake of the waterworks will be seen lower down the stream. 

Below Hot Springs the timber was originally very heavy, but most 
of it has been cut off or burned, and the traveler can obtain a very 
inadequate idea of a virgin Washington forest from 
what he sees along this route. In many places, how- 
ever, the second growth is very dense, and it would 
be difficult to force one’s way through it. In this 
vicinity the traveler gets his first good view of the luxuriant growth 
of ferns that characterizes the forests of the coastal belt of Oregon and 
Washington. (See Pl. XXVI, p. 194.) The rocks, although much 
obscured by vegetation, are similar to the lava flows and breccias 
that occur near the summit of the range and also on 
the east side. In the Green River valley the rocks 
have been smoothed and rounded by the glaciers” 
that formerly flowed down the valley and spread out 
on the plain below. The smooth and open character of the valley 
continues down as far as Eagle Gorge, but beyond that place the 
river enters a narrow, steep-walled canyon that in no— 
respect resembles the valley higher up. The contour 

. b 
map shows that a broad valley continues below Eagle 
Gorge to Barneston, but that neither the river nor_ 


Lester. 


Elevation 1,626 feet. 
Population 405.* 
St. Paul 1,839 miles. 


Hot Springs. 


Elevation 1,545 feet. 
St. Paul 1,841 miles. 


Maywood. 


Elevation 1,347 feet. 
St. Paul 1,846 miles. 


Humphrey. 


Elevation 1,224 feet. 
St. Paul 1,850 miles. 


Eagle Gorge. 


Elevation 1,110 feet. 
Population 304.* 
St. Paul 1,854 miles 


the railway follows it. 


From the arrangement of 


the valleys it is evident that Green River, at some time in the 





an epoch during which the ice melted 
earlier and more rapidly in the lowlands, 


later and lingeringly in the canyons of 


the ranges. The piedmont glaciers 
shrunk till they parted, and each man- 
tled the foothills ofits parentrange. The 
margins of the glaciers consisted of masses 
of stagnant ice buried beneath accumu- 
lations of gravel, sand, and loam, and 


ee eee Te i 
hardy vegetation may have flourished in a 


soil upon the ice. Rivers flowed on the ~ 
glaciers, through tunnels in them, and — 
from beneath them. Ice-bound lakes — 
were formed in embayments of the hills. 
Changes succeeded one another fre- 
quently, and each phase of ice and stream 
and lake left a meager record of its exist- 
ence in deposits of detritus. 










SHEET No. 26 


\20° 30! WASHINGTON — 


| 


EXPLANATION 
Stream deposits (alluvium) and glacial drift Quaternary 


Granite (Snoqualmie) 
Lava flows (mostly Keechelus andesitic series)| Tertiary 


Sandstone, shale, etc. (Ellensburg and Guye (Miocene) 
formations) 


Lava flows (Yakima basalt) 


a eS ea a ae 


Sandstone and shale, with coal beds (Roslyn 
and Manastash formations), younger Hocene 


2S ssc 
) Lava flows (Kachess rhyolite) 


baal rt Sandstone (Swauk and Naches formations), 
ete older Eocene 


Lava flows (Teanaway basalt) and dikes Tertiary 
(Eocene) 


ht oe 


ad 


Metamorphic rocks, probably Carboniferous 
or older 





Sas ; 


\ 


\ 
PS We Loe a 
\. ™Baylstea 
Staats: 
Ws WY) KL 
oh \ : Boos 





ENGRAVED AND PRINTED BY THE U.3.G 





GEOLOGIC AND TOPOGRAPHIC MAP 


OF THE 


NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE 


| From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 


- Base compiled from United States Geological Survey Atlas 
Sheets, from railroad alignments and profiles supplied by 
the Northern Pacific Railway Company and from additional 
information collected with the assistance of this company 


UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 


GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR 
David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer 


1915 


Each quadrangle shewn on the map with a name in parenthesis in the 
lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 
Sheet of that name. 


SHEET No. 26 
BULLETIN 611 | | ae az 3 — 


















WASHINGTON 


EXPLANATION 






































A Stream deposits (alluvium) and glacial drift Quaternary 
B Granite (Snoqualmie) 
C. Lava flows (mostly Keechelus andesitic series) Tertiary 
D Sandstone, shale, ete. (Ellensburg and Guye (Miocene) 
formations) 
E Lava flows (Yakima basalt) 
F Sandstone and shale, with coal beds (Roslyn 
and Manastash formations), younger Eocene ; 
23 5 —_—___| —____________ @_ Lava flows (Teanaway basalt) and dikes Tertiary oe 
: ad . ha 
¢ : H_ Lava flows (Kachess rhyolite) (Kocene) 
: {25 Mt Stuart 1 Sandstone (Swauk and Naches formations), 
pore older Eocene 
J Metamorphic rocks, probably Carboniferous 
or older 
N 
N ~ 
S 1 
=f | | 
% 
& 
: 
/\ 
\ “\ i 
ele a 2 F es 
\ Alluvium > D = N aii 
Holkp~ <9 S/S 
— se Nn \ ' eae ~ 
ti | Ce 
Tre wae k a Pea 
- el Dv s mg ke 
Soccfteyssurs/ \/\S 
Ngo EL LENSBURG/ 7 \ ’ 
f : waa 1518 — ; BE eS 
>." Lif / Ye 
Scale 500,000 \ ! x Kintitas ee 
© Approximately 8 miles to | inch S yY 
5 10 \ 20Miles “eens! 


10 5 10 15 20 25 30Kilometers 






Contour interval 200 feet 
ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL 


The distances from St. Paul, Minnesota, are shown every 10 miles 


The crossties on the railroads are spaced | mile apart 
ees Ne Re ee ee eS eee 


a ES 


ENGRAVED AND PRINTED BY THE U.S.GEQOLOGICAL SURVEY 


ra 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 


187 


past, flowed in this valley instead of in its present course below Eagle 


Gorge.' 





1 The old and new valleys of Green 
River afford an excellent example of 
changes that may take place in the drain- 
age system of a country as a consequence 
of the invasion of a glacier. The river 
valleys on the west slope of the Cascade 
Mountains are in general well developed, 
showing that the streams have occupied 
them foralong time. The original course 
of Green River below Eagle Gorge was 
doubtless north by way of Page Mill and 
Barneston, for the present canyon below 
Eagle Gorge is so narrow that it must have 
been formed comparatively recently. The 
relative size of the two valleys is shown in 
figure 38, which represents a cross section 


about 3 miles below Eagle Gorge. 


To divert a stream intrenched in a 


valley from 2,000 to 3,000 feet deep must 
have required a formidable barrier. Such 


a barrier could have been produced only 


SY 


S 


SS 


Vy 


YY Yi 


Greere Ttiver 


] 


Uf Yj S Ys 
YW ) 








The exact manner in which the ice 
blocked this outlet of Green River is a 
matter of speculation, but probably the 
glacier came down the Sound after the 
local glaciers in Green and Snoqualmie 
valleys had melted back from the moun- 
tain front and crowded up the valley of 
Green River until it completely blocked 
that valley with a great dam of ice, hun- 
dreds and possibly thousands of feet in 
thickness. This barrier seems to have 
been sufficient to raise the water of Green 
River until it flowed over a low divide 
that must have existed between the Green 
River valley and a small stream flowing to 
the west past Palmer Junction. Beyond 
this divide the river found an unob- 
structed outlet which it at once proceeded 
to deepen and which it finally cut below 
the level of the former outlet by Barnes- 
ton. By the time the ice had disappeared 


Vf 
yy 


SV 


bardored valley 
of Green firver 


FIGURE 38.—Section showing size and shape of the valley of Green River below Eagle Gorge, Wash., com- 
pared with the valley the river abandoned when it was blocked by ice. 


in one of four ways—(1) by a landslide 


which filled the valley below the point 
_ of diversion; (2) by a lava flow occupying 


a similar position; (3) by a fault across 
the valley and the sudden upward move- 
ment of the land below the fault; or (4) 
by the blocking of the valley by ice. Ii 


the change were due to any one of the 
first three of these causes there should 


remain in the old valley some traces of 


the barrier, but, as no such features have 


been observed, it must be concluded that 
ice was the agent that caused the change. 
Ice would leave no permanent barrier, 
and so no surface indications would be 
expected, except the ordinary deposits 
that are made by a glacier. Evidence 
of this kind is abundant and clearly shows 


that the region was deeply covered with 
ice at a recent geologic date. 


Green River had become so deeply in- 
trenched in its new course that it per- 
sisted, and it remains to this day in the 
new valley it was thus compelled to 
occupy. 

Although this change occurred during 
the Great Ice Age, geologically it was 
very recent, as is shown by the narrow- 
ness and steepness of the new part of the 
gorge. Time enough has not elapsed for 
the river to broaden its channel, and this 
difference the traveler will doubtless 
realize as the train passes from the open 
valley in the vicinity of Eagle Gorge into 
the dim shadows of the narrow canyon 
below, in which there is barely room for 
the track between the river and the 
bluffs, and even to make this passage 
deep rock cuts and many crossings of 
the stream are necessary. 


188 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


That part of the Green River valley below Eagle Gorge has all the 
features characteristic of newly cut gorges in fairly hard rocks. Itis 
narrow and tortuous and the stream abounds in tumbling cascades’ 
and pools of deep water. It is a beautiful glen in which the rocks 
are covered with delicate mosses and draped with ferns whose graceful 
fronds sparkle with mist from the numerous cascades. ; 

Just after passing milepost 81 the traveler can see the head gate - 
of the Tacoma waterworks, and the deep-blue pool above, which 
certainly looks as if no polluting substances had ever affected it. 
After being accustomed to the water supplied to some of the eastern 
cities the traveler may envy these Pacific coast towns their nearness_ 
to mountain sources and the never-failing water supply they can pro- 
cure there. Seattle also draws its supply of water from the Cascade 
Mountains, but as it is taken from Cedar River, the next stream on 
the right (north), neither the intake nor the conduit are visible from 
the train. 

At Palmer Junction the Northern Pacific divides into two branches, 
the older line turning to the left (south) and going by way of Buckley 
to Tacoma, which at the time of the completion of the railway was 
its western terminus, and the other turning slightly to the right and 


going to Seattle by way of Auburn.* 





1The original plan of the Northern 
Pacific was to build on the north side of 
Columbia River from the mouth of Snake 
River to Kalama and thence northward 
to Puget Sound. That part of the road 
from Kalama to Tacoma was the first to 
be constructed, the first train reaching 
Tacoma on December 16, 1873. Finan- 
cial difficulties forced a suspension of 
operations for some time, but in 1880 
building was resumed and _ actively 
pushed from Mandan, N. Dak., westward 
and from the mouth of Snake River east- 
ward. The line along Columbia River 
from Kalama to Snake River had not yet 
been touched, but it was thought that if 
the line east of Snake River could be 
completed, boat service on the river 
would accommodate the traffic until the 
company was strong enough financially to 
undertake the building of that line. In 
the meantime a franchise for the construc- 
tion of a road along the south bank of the 
Columbia had been obtained by the Ore- 
gon Railway & Navigation Co., and traffic 
arrangements had been entered into 
between this company and the Northern 
Pacific for the joint use of this line from 
Wallula to Portland. While these nego- 


tiations were under way the construction 
of the main line was carried on rapidly, 
and the last spike connecting the eastern — 
and western sections was driven a little 
west of Garrison in September, 1883. 

As early as 1876 a line was built from © 
Tacoma up Puyallup River to the Wilke- — 
son coal mine for the immediate purpose — 
of procuring coal, and ultimately as a — 
part of the Cascade branch, which the — 
Northern Pacific, even at that early date, — 
was considering a necessity. Work on 
this branch was suspended during the 
reorganization of the company in the 
years 1873-1879 and also while the com- | 
pany was bending all its energies to the — 
completion of the main line in 1880-— 
1883. Finally work was begun on this” 
branch in earnest in 1884, but owing to 
the delay in constructing the Stampede 
Tunnel, the first train over the line did 
not reach Tacoma until July 3, 1887. In 
1883 the railroad from Seattle to Auburn — 
and Puyallup was built by a company 
of local capitalists, but later it was taken 
over by the Northern Pacific. The last 
cut-off constructed was the road from Pal- 
mer Junction to Auburn, which now gives 
a direct line from St. Paul to Seattle. 














THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 189 


About a mile east of Palmer Junction the railway enters one of 
the productive coal fields of the State, though little coal or evidence 
of coal mining can be seen from the train. Several 
mines have been developed, however, south of the 
river, within a distance of 3 or 4 miles, and one or 
two mines to the north. 

Between Palmer Junction and Kanaskat the Northern Pacific 
is crossed by a branch of the St. Paul road which leads to several 

mining towns along the mountain front and _ ter- 
minates at Enumclaw, on the Tacoma line of the 
| Elevation 859 feet. northern Pacific, 10 miles to the south. The moun- 
St. Paul 1,862 miles. d ; 
tains end abruptly at Kanaskat and give place to a 
| The glacial drift on this plain is underlain by shale, 


Palmer Junction. 


Elevation 869 feet. 
St. Paul 1,862 miles. 


Kanaskat. 


glacial plain. 
sandstone, and etal beds, which belong to the Puget group and 
which are of about the same age as the Roslyn 
(Eocene) formation on the other side of the Cascade 
Range, but few of the rocks are exposed at the surface. 
There are two large coal mines at Ravensdale, one of 
which can be seen on the left (south) as the train 
passes through the village.' 

As the presence of coal beds means that swamps prevailed at one 
time in this region, it is reasonable to suppose that vegetation flour- 
ished in that far-off time much as it does to-day. Careful search has 
shown that plants did grow luxuriantly then, and their fossil forms 
are so well preserved that the botanist has been able not only to dis- 
tinguish the species that grew here, but to determine from the kind of 
plants the climate that must have prevailed. In the note below F. H. 
Knowlton compares the fossil flora with that living in Washington at 
the present time.” 


| Ravensdale. 


Elevation 628 feet. 
Population 726.* 
‘St. Paul 1,867 miles. 





1 The large coal tipple which the trav- 
eler can see on the left is used for hoist- 
ing coal up a slope about 1,500 feet long 
from the workings below. Three coal 
beds are being worked in this mine. 

'The main slope leads down one bed and 
-a rock tunnel has been driven from it to 
the other two. 

The main bed ranges in thickness in 


of the coal ranges from 11,290 to 11,850 
British thermal units. 

The McKay coal bed, which is worked 
in a mine some distance away from the 
main line of the road, is about 5 feet 
thick and is all clear coal without part- 
ings. This coal has a heating value of 
12,210 British thermal units. Although 
this mine is less than a mile distant from 


the mine from 4 feet 4 inches to 10 feet 
7 inches and where thickest is broken 
by many partings of shale and bone that 
‘make mining expensive and detract 
greatly from the value of the coal. The 
other two beds are 5 feet 7 inches and 7 
feet 10 inches thick, but contain much 
impure or dirty coal. The heating value 


the one near the track, it has not been 
possible to determine the relative posi- 
tions of the coal beds, for the rocks are 
thrown into numerous folds and broken 
in many places. 

2 The State of Washington now exhibits 
great diversity in soil and climatic condi- 
tions, with the result that it supports a 


190 


GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


West of Ravensdale the railway pursues a westerly course, cross- 
ing under the Columbia & Puget Sound Railroad and then follow- 
ing in a general way a slight depression in the drift without any 


marked features of relief. 


Beyond Covington the valley deepens and becomes more restricted, 
and the railway cuts show that the valley has been excavated in a 
thick deposit of glacial gravel. 
known as the Orting gravel, was deposited by 
streams flowing from the ice front of the Admiralty 
glacier (see p. 192) after it had retreated to a position 


Covington. 


Elevation 361 feet. 
Population 145.* 
St. Paul 1,874 miles. 


farther north. 


This material, 


At milepost 102 is the State fish hatchery, which supplies fish fry 


for many of the streams on this side of the mountains. 


passing this point the train crosses Green River and is once more in a 





large and varied flora of not less than 
2,500 species of the so-called higher plants 
alone. As these soil and climatic condi- 
tions vary from place to place, there are 
many sharp, almost abrupt changes in the 
character of the vegetation. Thus the 
Cascade Range, although only 6,000 or 
7,000 feet high, constitutes an effective 
barrier which relatively few plants are 
able to cross. On the east side of the 
mountains there is an arid transition area 
where the sagebrush plains of Columbia 
River give way to the slightly higher, 
treeless, grass-covered zone known as the 
bunch-grass prairies. Still higher and 
nearer the mountains is the yellow-pine 
belt. Here the forests are composed 
mainly of the yellow or bull pine, with 
such undershrubs as the pinebark, buck- 
brush, roses, and a tall huckleberry. 

On the western slope of the Cascades 
the change in the character of the vegeta- 
tionismarked. The dominant forest tree 
is the red fir, which covers fully 90 per 
cent of the heavily timbered area, in 
places with a stand so dense that the sun 
can scarcely penetrate. Ina narrow strip 
along the coast the dominant species is 
the Sitka or tideland spruce. In the bet- 
tom lands, mainly river valleys, the con- 
spicuous trees or shrubs are the red cedar, 
giant cedar, white fir, large-leaved maple, 
Oregon ash, cottonwocd, western cornel, 
vine maple, crab apple, willows, the ter- 
rible devil’s club, and salmonberry. On 
the gravelly prairies are the only species 


of oak growing in the State, as well as the 
black pine and, until the middle of July, 
a carpet of brilliant flowers. 

The fossil flora of this region, found 
mainly in more or less close association 
with the numerous coal beds, was also an 
exceedingly rich and diverse one, num- 
bering, as at present understood, about 
350 species, with the probability that it 
may reach 400 or 500 species when fully 
known. 
species is now known to be living, al- 
though many of them belong to genera 
that are the same as or similar to those that 
make up the present flora. In view of 
the so-called accident of preservation, it 
is probable that the total fossil flora may 
have equaled the living flora in number 
of species. 

The almost complete change in the 
character of the flora since the Puget 
epoch (Eocene) is well shown by the coni- 
fers. This group is now dominant in con- 
spicuousness and number of individuals, 


whereas in Puget time it was almost neg- 


ligible, being represented by only three 
kinds—cypress, cedar, and juniper—and 
these were so scarce that less than twenty 
examples out of many thousands of speci- 


mens have been observed. Another — 


marked difference between the two floras 
is shown by the presence of palms in the 
Puget flora. 


Soon after 


Not a single one of these fossil — 


Two very distinct kinds of © 


palms have been found, one with rather — 


small, feather-like leaves, and a huge fan 


palm, with leaves that must have been at — 


a ee 


THE NORTHERN 


PACIFIC ROUTE. 191 


broad valley in which the timber has been cleared away and farms 
established. To one not accustomed to the thick forests of the 
Pacific slope, it is a relief to emerge from their dense shade and 


enter open country. 


After crossing Green River and the broad valley in which it flows 
|the train passes under a high bluff of gravel (Orting) on the south. 
The origin and geologic age of this gravel, as well as 


‘Auburn. 


|Elevation 100 feet. 
Population 957. 
| i Paul 1,883 miles. 


of the other formations of the drift 3 in Tlachinevanl 
are discussed below by W. C. Alden. 
has been extensively used by the railway for bal- 


This gravel 


lasting the track. At Auburn the railway line 
‘across the mountains unites with the line from Portland to Seattle. 
‘The rest of the route is directly north down the valley to its junction 
with Black River, which is the natural outlet of Lake Washington. 


least 5 or 6 feet across. At present palms 
do not grow wild within a thousand miles 
of the Puget Sound region. 

The traveler will doubtless be struck by 
the abundance of beautiful ferns now 
|growing along the forest borders in the 
open, partly shaded locations. Ferns 
‘were also present during Puget time, 
though none that have been found are 
very closely related to the living forms. 
‘Tall, bushy horsetails (Equisetum) are 
‘conspicuous in many places, and the 
group was represented in the fossil flora. 
The deciduous-leaved plants, to judge 
‘from their fossil remains, were in the 
vast majority during Puget time and 
‘show much diversity. They included 
figs of several kinds, hackberries, mul- 
berries, many PATIOWS alders, birches, 
and Rhee a number of Rela two spe- 
‘cies of pepper tree, elms, ashes, maples, 
magnolias, cinnamons, laurels, plums, 
‘service berries, dogwoods, custard apples, 
chestnuts, crab apples, sumachs, bitter- 
sweets, blueberries, bush thorns, prim- 
‘roses, and others that are without well- 
known vernacular names. 

_ The Sound country of Washington, at 
the time of deposition of the lower beds of 
the Puget group, is supposed, on account 
of the abundance of ferns, gigantic palms, 
figs, and a number of forms now found in 
the West Indies and tropical South Amer- 
ica, to have enjoyed a much warmer cli- 
mate than it does to-day; but the pres- 
ence of sumachs, chestnuts, birches, 















maples, dogwoods, sycamore, etc., in the 
upper beds of the group would seem to 
indicate an approach to the climatic con- 
ditions prevailing at present. 

A number of fossil plants have been 
found to be common to the east and west 
sides of the Cascades. This would indi- 
cate that approximately similar condi- 
tions of climate and topography prevailed 
throughout this general area during the 
Puget epoch. The Cascade Range, as it 
now exists, did not then intervene. 

1 Ata time which probably corresponds 
to the last or Wisconsin stage of glaciation 
in the eastern part of the United States, 
the mountains of Washington were largely 
covered with ice, and the Vashon lobe of 
the Cordilleran ice sheet extended south- 
ward from British Columbia into the Pu- 
get Sound basin. This glacier is believed 
to have attained a thickness of about 
2,500 feet. The ice filled the depressions 
composing the Sound, from the foot of 
the Olympic Mountains on the west to 
the base of the Cascades on the east. On 
the south it reached and covered much 
of the plains south of Olympia. The ice 
of this glacier probably coalesced on the 
east with the local glaciers that descended 
the slopes and valleys of the Cascades. 

The melting of these glaciers left depos- 
its of clay, sand, gravel, and bowlders 
(the Vashon and Osceola drift), which 
may now be seen on the elevated tracts 
between and around the troughs of the 
Sound but which were not thick enough 


192 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


Below the point of junction the stream is known as Duwamish 
River, and this the road follows to the tidal flats of Elliott Bay at 
Sonttlel 

The broad valley at Auburn is distinctly different from the ordin ell 
stream valleys of this region, in that it is wider than is required by 
such streams as now occupy it, it is flatter than valleys excavated by 
erosion, and it is open to sidew ates at both ends—Elhott Bay (Seattle) 
on the north and Commencement Bay (Tacoma) on the west. The 
floor of the valley is so flat that streams entering it build delta-like 
accumulations of sediment upon which the stream channel shifts 
from place to place. White River, next to Green River on the 
south and named because of the milky color of its water, derived 
from the glaciers of Mount Rainier, enters the valley a few miles 
above Auburn. Part of the stream at times turns south into Puyal- 
lup (poo-yal’up) River andreaches tidewater at Tacoma and the other 
part flows north and unites with Green River. The arrangement of 
the valleys and their peculiar connection with bays and similar in- 
dentations of the coast line strongly suggest that at one time this 
entire valley from Tacoma to Seattle was an arm of the Sound simi- 
lar to but smaller than Admiralty Inlet and that it has become a 
land valley simply by being filled with sediment brought down by 
the rivers from the Cascade Mountains. 

Bailey Willis, who has made a careful study of the Puget Sound 
region, is of the opinion that the peculiar branching channels of the 
Sound could have been produced only by the submergence of a land 
on which a branching river system had formerly existed. If this 
view is correct, it is evident that many modifications must have been 
made, for a peculiarity of the channels of the Sound is that they not 
only unite as the tributaries of a river system unite, but they separate 
ina most intricate fashion. Taken as a whole, the conclusion appears 
well founded, but there are many minor points that still remain to 
be explained. | 


to fill the deep depressions, so that when 
free of ice these were occupied by marine 
waters. This drift is underlain by strat- 
ified sand and gravel (Douty gravel, 
Puyallup sand, and Orting gravel) de- 
posited by waters from the melting of 
earlier glaciers. These deposits include 
lignite, formed from vegetation which 
grew upon the sand and gravel, and they 
are much weathered and eroded, showing 
that they were exposed during a long 
interglacial stage before being overridden 
and covered by the deposits of the gla- 
clers mentioned above. 


Beneath these sands and gravels lie 
deposits of stiff blue clay, mostly strati- 
fied but locally filled with subangular 
stones and large bowlders. These de- 
posits, known as the Admiralty till, 
deposited by the Admiralty glacier, 
were laid down during an earlier stage 
of glaciation, when the Puget Sound 
basin was occupied by a lobe of the 
Cordilleran ice sheet, as at the Vashon 
stage. There are some suggestions that 
still earlier glaciers occupied the basin, 
but these are too indefinite to be given — 


much weight. Z 
e 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 198 


The White River valley is largely given up to truck farming and 
dairying. The dairying industry centers about Kent, where there 
is a large plant for the manufacture of condensed 
milk. On the left (west) are the lines of the Oregon- 
Washington Railroad & Navigation Co., the St. Paul 
road, and the Interurban Electric Go.; on the right 
the town of Renton, perched partly on the hillside, 
about 2 miles distant. This is another coal-mining town—in fact, 
coal mining is the chief business in many parts of the country back 
from the Sound. Renton is nearer tidewater than the other mining 
towns of the State, and the coal mined here has a fine reputation in 
the cities on the Sound as a clean fuel for domestic use.' 

Between mileposts 11 and 10 the Black River branch on the right 
leads to Renton and other towns in that direction, and at milepost 
10 the Renton branch of the interurban trolley line crosses the St. 
Paul road and then crosses Black River, which is the outlet of Lake 
Washington. Beyond the crossmg of Black River the railway is at 
the foot of the bluffs on the right side of the valley, and the hillside 
cuts expose, in several places, sandstone and shale (Puget group), 
but no coal beds occur in this part of the formation. This part of the 
valley is known as the Duwamish Valley. At its lower end the stream 
is actively engaged in filling the bay with the sediment which it car- 
ries. The work of the stream has been supplemented in recent years 
by civic activity in cutting down some of Seattle’s hills and in reduc- 
ing the grades in the business part of the city. On some of the streets 
the grade was lowered as much as 30 feet, and on others there was a 
corresponding fill. As the material on which the city is built is glacial 
drift, steam shovels were largely used for the excavation, but the 
methods used in hydraulic mining were employed to get rid of the 
large hill upon which the old Washington Hotel was situated. The rail- 
way crosses the wide tidal flats, which are being more and more utilized 
for business purposes, and reaches the Union Station at Seattle. 


Kent. 


Elevation 53 feet. 
Population 1,908. 
St. Paul 1,888 miles. 








1Renton is one of the oldest coal- 
mining centers of this part of the country, 
as mines were opened here in 1874. 
This early activity can not be attributed 
to the quality of the coal, for that is of a 
much lower rank than those already 
described, but it is probably due to the 


coal is brought to the surface through a 
slope on one of the beds, and a rock tun- 
nel in the mine connects with the other. 
Each bed is over 8 feet thick every- 
where, but this is not all merchantable 
coal. The average heating value of the 
coal of these two beds is 11,290 and 10,060 


nearness to tidewater, the cleanness of 
the coal, and its suitability for domestic 
use. 

Two coal beds are worked, and, like 
most of the other coal beds of this region, 
they are not lying flat, but dip at an 
angle of about 12° to the southeast. The 


95558 °—Bull. 611—15——-13 


British thermal units. 

The Renton coal, when exposed to the 
weather, slacks badly. On account of 
this property it is classed as subbitumi- 
nous coal, the next lower in the scale to 
bituminous coal, such as is mined at 
Roslyn and Ravensdale. 


194 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


The most important natural feature at Seattle is the wonderful 
harbor, with deep water at the very door of the city. The depth of 
water is shown on the small map on sheet 27. Other 
features of interest are the steep water front and the 
way in which it has been modified and shaped for the 
use of man, and Lake Washington, which bounds the 
city on the east and is soon to be thrown open to the 
commerce of the world by the construction of a ship canal from 
Salmon Bay through Lake Union and across the narrow neck of land 
south of the State University. This will greatly increase the harbor 
facilities, and the fresh water of the lake will afford an efficient 
means of freeing ocean-going vessels of barnacles. 

The State University is beautifully situated on the shore of Lake 
Washington, and its campus was utilized for the site of the Alaska- 
Yukon-Pacific Exposition in 1909. The city is well supplied with 
parks and connecting boulevards, and one of the finest views about 
the city is that of Mount Rainier’ from the boulevard that follows 


Seattle. 


Elevation 24 feet. 
Population 237,194. 
St. Paul 1,904 miles. 


the shore of Lake Washington. 


1 Of all the mountain masses and rugged 
snow peaks in the region described in this 
book, none will compare with the beauti- 
ful majestic cone of Mount Rainier (PI. 
XXVIII). This mountain giant is the 
dominating feature of this part of the 
Pacific slope. There may be other snow- 
clad peaks that seem to pierce the sky, 
such as Adams, Baker, and St. Helens, 
but these are dwarfed Beside the mighty 
symmetrical cone of Rainier. 

Mount Rainier (14,408 feet) is of about 
the same height as Pikes Peak, in Colo- 
rado (14,108 feet), or Mount Whitney, in 
California (14,502 feet), but it is superior 
in beauty to either, for it is not only a 
symmetrical cone but it can be seen from 
sea level and at close range, so that it 
stands out in all its massive grandeur. 
Mount Rainier when it comes into view 
from Tacoma, Seattle, or any other point 
along the winding channels of Puget 
Sound or from Lake Washington, reveals 
its full height, as there are no other peaks 
to obstruct the view or to detract from its 
commanding presence. 

The early exploration of the Puget 
Sound region is a matter of some uncer- 
tainty and doubt. Apostolos Valerianus, 
an old Greek pilot in the service of Spain, 
better known by his Spanish sobriquet 


Juan de Fuca, claimed to have discov- 
ered the main entrance to the Sound 
about 1600, but grave doubt has been 
cast upon his narrative and many believe 
that his account was pure fiction. The 
first reliable account of the Sound was 
written by Capt. George Vancouver, of — 
the British Royal Navy, who in 1792 
mapped the Sound, named it after Peter 
Puget, one of his lieutenants, and also 
named many other natural features of the 
region, including Mount Rainier. : 

It is said that the original Indian name — 
was Tacoma or Tahoma, meaning “‘big 
snow mountain,’’ but Vancouver disre-— 
garded or did not know of the Indian — 
usage and named the peak after Rear 
Admiral Rainier, of the British Navy. 
This name has been adopted by the 
United States Geographic Board. Never-— 
theless, there are many people who would — 
gladly see the foreign name abandoned, © 
even though usage has given it great § 
weight, and the aboriginal name Tacoma — 
revived. i 

Naturally, the high peaks of the Cas- ; 
cade attracted the attention of everyone 
who entered the region, and many were | 
eager to scale them. The earliest record — 
of mountain climbing was the ascent of 
Mount St. Helens in 1853. Duriag the 





PLATE XXVI 


BULLETIN 611 


. 


U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 





IMPASSABLE TANGLE OF A WASHINGTON FOREST 


THE ALMOST 


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"HSVM ‘SILLVSS ‘NOLONIHSVM 3XV1 30 SYOHS SHL NO GHVARSINOE SHL WOYS N3AS SV .'SHGVOSVOD SHL 30 HOYVNOW, ‘YSINIVY LNNOW 





HWAXX 3LV1d -+t9 NILS71NA AZAYNS 1V9IDO01035 *S “nN 


THE NORTHERN PACIFIC ROUTE. 195 


Although Capt. Vancouver mapped and named Puget Sound in 
1792, there was no permanent settlement or even trading post in the 
region until 1833, when Fort Nisqually was built by the Hudson’s Bay 
Co. on the ground now occupied by the city of Tacoma. This post was 
for many years, even up to the time it was purchased by the United 
States Government in 1869, the leading commercial place on the Sound 
and was surpassed only on the northwest coast by Fort Vancouver, on 
the Columbia, which was the headquarters of the Hudson’s Bay Co. 

Capt. Wilkes, when on his exploring expedition of 1840, landed at 
Fort Nisqually and sent a party inland to explore the country tribu- 
tary to the Sound and to Columbia River. One party traveled south- 
ward and explored the Willamette (Wil-lam’et) Valley of Oregon, 
and another, under Lieut. R. W. Johnson, on May 29, 1840, crossed 
the Cascade Mountains by way of Naches Pass. This seems to have 
been the earliest passage by white men across the Cascades. At that 
time it was only an Indian trail, but in 1853 a road was cleared so that 
emigrants over the old Oregon Trail could make a short cut to the 
Sound instead of having to keep to the south along Columbia River. 





following year parties reached the sum- 
mits of Mount Hood, in Oregon, and 
Mount Adams. Several unsuccessful at- 
tempts were made to climb Mount Baker, 
but not until 1868 did a party reach the 
top. 

Lieut. A. V. Kautz made an almost 
successful ascent of Mount Rainier in 1857, 
reaching within 1,000 feet of the summit. 
His trip, however, proved to be very im- 
portant, for he established the existence 
of glaciers here, which up to that time 
had not been known in this country. 
The first expedition to reach the top of 
the mountain was that of Gen. Hazard 
Stevens and P. V. Van Trump, who at- 
tained the summit on August 17, 1870. 
In the same year 8. F. Emmons and A. 
D. Wilson, at that time members of the 
Fortieth Parallel Survey, made a brief 
study of the geology of the mountain and 
of the glaciers on its side and reached the 
top October 17, just two months after it 
had been attained by Stevens and Van 


Trump. Since that time numerous as- 


cents have been made, and each year 


_ the trip is gaining in popularity, espe- 


cially since the mountain and some of the 
adjacent territory has been set aside as 
the Mount Rainier National Park. The 
base of the mountain can easily be 


reached from either Seattle or Tacoma, 
and the views obtained on such a trip will 
amply repay anyone for the journey. 

Mount Rainier, like Mounts Adams, St. 
Helens, and Baker, and Glacier Peak, is a 
great volcanic cone built upon the sum- 
mit of the Cascade Range by successive 
layers of material thrown out of its crater. 
The great height of these peaks has not 
been materially reduced by erosion, for 
the time since their formation has not been 
long enough to permit very effective work 
by the elements. Steam escapes from 
most of these old volcanoes, showing that 
the rocks are still hot at some distance 
below the surface. It is noted in the rec- 
ords of old Fort Vancouver, on Columbia 
River, that Mount St. Helens emitted 
smoke and ashes since the establish- 
ment of that post. The recent activity 
of Lassen Peak, in northern California, 
which is situated on the same general 
range of mountains, is another indication 
that volcanic activity in this region is not 
quite extinct. 

The heights of the great volcanic peaks 
of Washington are as follows: Mount St. 
Helens, 9,697 feet; Glacier Peak, 10,436 
feet; Mount Baker, 10,750 feet; Mount 
Adams, 12,307 feet; and Mount Rainier, 
14,408 feet. 


196 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


The first settlement in the vicinity of Seattle was made at Alki — 


Point in 1851. This was named New York, to which somebody face- 
tiously added the Chinook word ‘‘alki,” meaning ‘‘by and by.” On 
February 15, 1852, the claims which became the town site of Seattle 
were staked, but up to 1860 there were not more than 20 families in 


the town. The town of Tacoma was laid out in 1872, and since that — 


date there has been the most intense though friendly rivalry between 
the two places. 


The Puget Sound basin lies in what is called the moist district of , 


Washington. It has an annual precipitation of 25 to 60 inches, three- 
fourths of which occurs in the ‘‘ wet season,’ from November to April. 
It is therefore intermediate between the extremely wet country of the 
coast, having an annual precipitation of 60 to 120 inches, and the 
dry belt east of the Cascade Mountains, where the annual precipitation 
is only 8 or 10 inches. The Puget Sound region is regarded by many 
unfamiliar with it as a region of excessive rainfall, but the figures given 
by the Weather Bureau show that the precipitation here is about the 
same as in southern Ohio. The mean annual temperature of Seattle 
for December, 1894, to December, 1903, was 52°. The maximum for 
that time was 96° and the minimum 3°. 

Although the great forests that have made this part of the north- 
west coast famous are fast disappearing, lumbering continues to be 
the chief industry along the Sound, and millions of feet of lumber 
are each year sent east by the railways or shipped by vessel to various 
parts of the world. 

Seattle has one of the finest deep-water harbors on the coast. As 
shown by the sketch map of Elliott Bay on sheet 27, the water deepens 


a tk 


rapidly to 100 feet and then the depth increases gradually and some- 


what irregularly to 600 feet where the bay opens into the Sound. 
The harbor facilities of Seattle and its position near the Strait of 


Juan de Fuca and also the inland passage to the north have made it — 


the most advantageous place on the northwest coast for the center of 
the Alaskan trade and also for a large part of the oriental commerce 
to the United States. 


A ae | oe ee 


SHEET No. 27 





WASHINGTON 


EXPLANATION 


Loose surface materials 


> 


Stream deposits (alluvium) 


B_ Outwash (Steilacoom gravel) from retreating 
' Vashon Glacier 
Glacial drift (Vashon and Osceola), Wisconsin 
stage. Quaternary 
Outwash (Orting gravel and Puyallup sand) 


from Admiralty Glacier, shown by stippled 
pattern 






















Glacial drift (Admiralty), pre-Wisconsin 
stage, represented by heavy line 
Underlying rotks 
Lava flows, andesite Quaternary 


Lava flows (andesite of Cascade Range), 
Miocene 


Shale, Miocene Tertiary 


Sandstone and shale, with coal beds (Puget 
group), Eocene 


alls City 




















Preston nggualmie 
\ i 47 
5 /, WAN NAN F 
e KS SV \e\ ( 


ee a SS ee 


(Sheet No 26) 





aria SS = Sy 
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NV, 
WW 


His 
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» SN 2 ar CS S , ; 5S = 
QS Brn sree SES A\ [SOY 


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ENGRAVED AND PRINTED SY THE U.S.GREOLOGICAL SURVEY 


“SHEET No. 27 


BULLETIN 611 . enone 
Sa reese eaeewer WASHINGTON © 















EXPLANATION 
Loose surface materials 


A. Stream deposits (alluvium) 


B Outwash (Steilacoom gravel) from retreating 
Vashon Glacier 


C Glacial drift (Vashon and Osceola), Wisconsin 
stage. Quaternary 


D. Outwash (Orting gravel and Puyallup sand) 


from Admiralty Glacier, shown by stippled 
pattern 


E Glacial drift (Admiralty), pre-Wisconsin | 
stage, represented by heavy line 














Underlying rotks ; 
Lava flows, andesite Quaternary 


Lava flows (andesite of Cascade Range), 
Miocene 


H Shale, Miocene Tertiary 
I 


Sandstone and shale, with coal beds (Puget 
group), Eocene 


sFalls City 






ry 


From St. Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington 






op) 












. 












| 

| 
= es; he 
UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY | 


GEORGE OTIS SMITH. DIRECTOR 







(U.S. NAVAL STAYE 






'BREM TOR 
| 






















5 ‘ 5 : eae t a le Fal. 
David White, Chief Geologist R. B. Marshall, Chief Geographer Cats = Snoguafin eal’ 
: Scale 500,000 << eee Ax 
1915 ; _ Approximately 8 miles to | inch Preston nequalmie 
. ' ? 5 io Miles i 
Each quadrangle shown on the map with a name in parenthesis in the : 
, lower left corner is mapped in detail on the U. S. G. S. Topographic 19 5 10 15 Kilometers = 
Sheet of that name. ame eae = ) 
Contour interval 200 feet = | 
ELEVATIONS IN FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL é 
The distances from Si. Paul, Minnesota. are shown every 10 miles of = 
The crossties cn the railroads are spaced ! mile apart y- V3 = / 
>. ==) £=37/ |! » (= 
a A ms | | ss SASS 
= = A | R yh | {If 
= - “| V : = Mn Le XS\) Ss 
C \ \WesS 
















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LEZ ES A 
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) ZZ; } G foncea0 253 " ap) He SS) 


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j : G 
Z LZ Z = é- gravels & if may scceniieg 
| Z : Ae aeetel | of IMGT! 
) LLL  ( Steilaagdme , 
y Lake .< jLakeview 
Felte e thy : z Ci : i EL 77 # 
Divwamish Head *. i Ketron 70. 
6 te Rt CSeita / er/ten Lake 
SEPA a gravels / 4 0 A. 
: ee pac pu a as f rad, v Spana . 
r Ur 8 roy So . et / oy 
{7  Bupont %, A Miihurst oH) 
EN isqualiyeo aah wed IG 0 
‘hs Delia graves ) ep apy ps 
pes im | \ /y0' ¥ oh / ASX aay 
ae) i TS 
‘ Pasa toa os Com G 
(oor ee eres MILES ‘ ater d\ ae an acl = N ra . 
MAP SHOWING DEPTH OF WATER IN ELLIOTT BAY ,SEATTLE /) 1h) S) oe 1*C, \\ = es Oe «0 Sas 
Mie LY Bi nd CN | MeN FO | 
Dl 122°30' 


ENGRAVED AND PRINTED BY THE U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 







IMPORTANT PAPERS ON THE GEOGRAPHY, GEOLOGY, 
AND HISTORY OF THE REGION TRAVERSED BY THE 
NORTHERN PACIFIC RAILWAY. 


MINNESOTA. 
Coves, Exziorr, The explorations of Zebulon M. Pike, vol. 1, New York, 1895. 
NORTH DAKOTA. 


Hatt, C. M., and Wizarp, D. E., U. 8. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Casselton-Fargo 
folio (No. 117), 1905. 

LronarpD, A. G., U.S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Bismarck folio (No. 181), 1912. 

Leonarp, A. G., and Smiru, ©. D., The Sentinel Butte lignite field, North Dakota 
and Montana: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 341, pp. 15-35, 1909. 

Topp, J. E., The moraines of the Missouri Coteau and their attendant deposits: U. S. 
Geol. Survey Bull. 144, 1896. 

UrpnHam, WarrEN, The glacial Lake Agassiz: U. 8. Geol. Survey Mon. 25, 1896. 

Wrarp, D. E., U.S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Jamestown-Tower folio (No. 168), 


1909. 
MONTANA. 


BaRRELL, JosEPH, Geology of the Marysville mining district, Mont.: U. S. Geol. 
Survey Prof. Paper 57, 1907. 

Oatxins, F. C., and MacDonatp, D. F., A geological reconnaissance in northern 
Idaho and northwestern Montana: U. 8. Geol. Survey Bull. 384, 1909. 

Catvert, W. R., Geology of certain lignite fields in eastern Montana: U. 8. Geol. 
Survey Bull. 471, pp. 187-201, 1912. 

The Livingston and Trail Creek coal fields, Park, Gallatin, and Sweetgrass 

counties, Mont.: U. 8. Geol. Survey Bull. 471, pp. 384-405, 1912. 

The Electric coal field, Park County, Mont.: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 471, pp. 
406-422, 1912. 

CHITTENDEN, H. M., The Yellowstone National Park: Cincinnati, The Robert Clarke 
Co., 1895. 

CotuerR, A. J., and SmirH, C. D., The Miles City coal field, Mont.: U. S. Geol. 
Survey Bull. 341, pp. 36-61, 1909. 

Hague, Arnoxtp, WEED, W. H., and Ipp1nes, J. P., U. 8. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, 
Yellowstone National Park folio (No. 30), 1896. 

Hance, J. H., The Glendive lignite field, Dawson County, Mont.: U. 8. Geol. Sur- 
vey Bull. 471, pp. 271-283, 1912. 

Ippines, J. P., and Weep, W. H., U. 8. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Livingston folio 
(No. 1), 1894. 

Knorr, Aporpn, Ore deposits of the Helena mining region, Mont.: U.S. Geol. Survey 
Bull. 527, 1913. 

PARDEE, J. T., Coal in the Tertiary lake beds of southwestern Montana: U.S. Geol. 
Survey Bull. 531, pp. 229-244, 1913. 

The glacial Lake Missoula, Jour. Geology, vol. 18, pp. 376-386, 1910. 

Peatez, A. C., U. 8. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Threeforks folio (No. 24), 1896. 
Stonz, R. W., and Catvert, W. R., Stratigraphic relations of the Livingston for- 
mation of Montana: Econ. Geology, vol. 5, pp. 551-557, 652-669, 741-764, 1910. 

_ Watcort, C. D., Algonkian formations of northwestern Montana: Geol. Soc. America 
Bull., vol. 17, pp. 1-28, 1906. 

Pre-Cambrian fossiliferous formations: Geol. Soc. America Bull., vol. 10, pp. 
199-244, 1899. 














197 


198 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


Weep, W. H., Geology and ore deposits of the Butte district, Mont.: U. 8. Geol. 
Survey Prof. Paper 74, 1912. 

The glaciation of the Yellowstone Valley north of the park: U.8. Geol. Survey 

Bull. 104, 1893. 

The Laramie and the overlying Livingston formation in Montana, with report 
on flora, by F. H. Knowlton: U.S. Geol. Survey Bull. 105, 1893. 

WEED, W. H., Emmons, S. F., and Tower, G. W., jr., U.S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, 
Butte special folio (No. 38), 1897. 

Wooprurr, E. G., The Red Lodge coal field, Mont.: U. 8. Geol. Survey Bull. 341, 
pp. 92-107, 1909. 








IDAHO. 


Ransome, F. L., and Catxins, F. C., The geology and ore deposits of the Coeur 
d’Alene district, Idaho: U. 8. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 62, 1908. 


WASHINGTON. 


Bretz, J. H., Glaciation of the Puget Sound region: Washington Geol. Survey Bull. 
8, 1913. 

Caxins, F. C., Geology and water resources of a portion of east-central Washington: 
U.S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 118, 1905. 

Evans, G. W., The coal fields of King County, Wash.: Washington Geol. Survey Bull. 
31912. 

RussE.., I. C., A geological reconnaissance in central Washington: U.S. Geol. Sur- 
vey Bull. 108, 1893. 

Russe LL, I. C., and Smrrug, G. O., Glaciers of Mount Rainier, with a paper on the 
rocks of Mount Rainier: U. 8. Geol. Survey Eighteenth Ann. Rept., pt. 2, pp. 349- 
424, 1898. i 

Suiru, E. E., Coals of the State of Washington: U. 8. Geol. Survey Bull. 474, 1911. 


Smiru, G. O., Geology and water resources of a portion of Yakima County, Wash.: 


U.S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 55, 1901. 

—— U.S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Ellensburg folio (No. 86), 1903. 

U.S. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Mount Stuart folio (No. 106), 1904. 

Surry, G. O., and Carxins, F. C., U. 8. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Snoqualmie folio 
(No. 139), 1906. 

Smitu, G. O., and Wruuis, BarLey, Contributions to the geology of Washington: U.S. 
Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 19, 1903. ; 

WarinG, G. A., Geology and water resources of a portion of south-central Washington: 
U.S. Geol. Survey Water-Supply Paper 316, 1913. 





eee Yr 


a 


aeeeta = 


eu, tes fn J 
cate eo) See eae een 


Wits, Barey, and Sarru, G. O., U. 8. Geol. Survey Geol. Atlas, Tacoma folio (No. 


54), 1899. 
GENERAL. 


Cougs, Extiott, History of the expedition under the command of Lewis and Clark, 
4 vols., New York, Francis P. Harper, 1893. 
GANNETT, Henry, Boundaries of the United States and the several States and 


Territories, with an outline of the history of all important changes of territory: — 


U.8. Geol. Survey Bull. 226, 1904. 

SMALLEY, E. V., History of the Northern Pacific Railroad, New York, G. P. Putnam’s 
Sons, 1883. 

WHEELER, O. D., The trail of Lewis and Clark, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, 1904. 





GLOSSARY OF GEOLOGIC TERMS. 


Alluvial fan. The outspread sloping deposit of bowlders, gravel, and sand left by 
a stream where it passes from a gorge out upon a plain. 

Andesite. A lava of widespread occurrence, usually of dark-gray color and inter- 
mediate in chemical composition between rhyolite and basalt. 

Anticline. Arch of bedded or layered rock suggestive in form of an overturned 
canoe. (See fig. 20, p. 102.) (See also Dome and Syncline. ) 

Badlands. A region nearly devoid of vegetation where erosion, instead of carving 
hills and valleys of the familiar type, has cut the land into an intricate maze of 
narrow ravines and sharp crests and pinnacles. Travel across such a region is 
almost impossible, hence the name. (See Pls. VI-IX, pp. 62-63.) 

Basalt. A common lava of dark color and of great fluidity when molten. Basalt is 
less siliceous than granite and rhyolite, and contains much more iron, calcium, 
and magnesium. 

Bolson (pronounced bowl-sown’). A flat-floored desert valley that drains to a central 
evaporaticn pan or playa. 

Bomb. See Volcanic bomb. 

Breccia (pronounced bretch’a). A mass of naturally cemented angular rock frag- 
ments, 

Crystalline rock. A rock composed of closely fitting mineral crystals that have 
formed in the rock substance as contrasted with one made up of cemented grains 
of sand or other material or with a volcanic glass. 

Diabase. A heavy, dark, intrusive rock having the same composition as basalt, but, 
on account of its slower cooling, a more crystalline texture. Its principal con- 
stituent minerals are feldspar, augite, and usually olivine. Olivine is easily 
changed by weathering, and in many diabases is no longer recognizable. Augite 
is a mineral containing iron and magnesium and is similar to hornblende. 

Dike. A mass of igneous rock that has solidified in a wide fissure or crack i in the 
earth’s crust. (See fig. 15, p. 95.) 

Diorite. An even-grained intrusive igneous rock consisting chiefly of the minerals 
feldspar, hornblende, and very commonly black mica. If the rock contains 
much quartz, it is called quartz diorite. Quartz diorite resembles granite and is 
connected with that rock by many intermediate varieties, including monzonite. 
The feldspar in diorite differs from that in granite in containing calcium and 
sodium instead of potassium. Hornblende isa green or black mineral containing 
iron, magnesium, calcium, and other constituents. 

Dip. The slope of a rock layer expressed by the angle which the top or bottom of 
the layer makes with a horizontal plane. (See fig. 2, p. 17.) 

Dissected. Cut by erosion into hills and valleys. Applicable especially to plains 
or peneplains in process of erosion after an uplift. 

Dome. As applied to rock layers or beds, a short anticline, suggestive of an in- 
verted basin. 

Drift. The rock fragments—soil, gravel, and silt—carried by a glacier. Drift in- 
cludes the unassorted material known as till and deposits made by streams flow- 
ing from a glacier. 

Erosion. The wearing away of materials at the earth’ssurface by the mechanical ac- 
tion of running water, waves, moving ice, or winds, which use rock fragments and 
grains as tools or abrasives. Erosion is aided by weathering. (See Weathering.) 


199 


200 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


Fault. <A fracture in the earth’s crust accompanied by movement of the rock on 
one side of the break past that on the other. If the fracture is inclined and the 
rock on one side appears to have slid down the slope of the fracture the fault is 
termed a normal fault. If, on the other hand, the rock on one side appears to 
have been shoved up the inclined plane of the break, the fault is termed a reverse 
fault. (See fig. 20, p. 102; fig. 23, p. 112, and fig. 30, p. 143.) 

Fault block. A part of the earth’s crust bounded wholly or in part by faults. 

Fault scarp. Thecliffformed bya fault. Most fault scarps have been modified by 
erosion since the faulting. 

Fauna. The animals that inhabited the world or a certain region at a certain time. 

Fissure. <A crack, break, or fracture in the earth’s crust or in a mass of rock. 

Flood plain. The nearly level land that borders a stream and is subject to occasional | 
overflow. Flood plains are built up by sediment left by such overflows. | 

Flora. The assemblage of plants growing at a given time or in a given place. 

Fold. A bend in rock layers or beds. Anticlines and synclines are the common 
types of folds. (See fig. 28, p. 129, and fig. 31, p. 144.) 

Formation. A rock layer, or a series of continuously deposited layers grouped 
together, regarded by the geologist as a unit for purposes of description and 
mapping. A formation is usually named from some place where it is exposed 
in its typical character. Jor example, Denver formation, Niobrara limestone. 

Fossil. The whole or any part of an animal or plant that has been preserved in 
the rocks or the impression left by a plant or animal. This preservation is in- 
variably accompanied by change in substance, and from some impressions the 
original substance has all been removed. (See Pls. VI, A, p. 62; XI, B, p. 75.) 

Gneiss (pronounced nice). A rock resembling granite, but with its mineral con- 
stituents so arranged as to give it a banded appearance. Most gneisses are meta- 
morphic rocks derived from granite or other igneous rocks. 

Granite. A crystalline igneous rock that has solidified slowly deep within the 
earth. It consists chiefly of the minerals quartz, feldspar, and one or both of 
the common kinds of mica, namely, black mica, or biotite, and white mica, or 
muscovite. The feldspar is the kind known as orthoclase, and may be distin- 
guished from quartz by its pale-reddish tint and its property of breaking with 


flat shining surfaces (cleavage), for quartz breaks irregularly. The micas are ~ 


easily recognized by their cleavage into thin, flexible flakes and their bril- 
liant luster. 

Horizon. In geology any distinctive plane traceable from place to place in different 
exposures of strata and marking the same period of geologic time. A particular 
horizon may be characterized by distinctive fossils. 


Igneous rocks. Rocks formed by the cooling and solidification of a hot liquid — 


material known as magma, that has originated at unknown depths within the 
earth. Those that have solidified beneath the surface are known as intrusive 
rocks, or, if the cooling has taken place slowly at great depth, as plutonic intru- 
sive or plutonic rocks, Those that have flowed out over the surface are known 
as effusive rocks, extrusive rocks, or lavas. The term volcanic rocks includes — 
not only lavas but bombs, pumice, tuff, volcanic ash, and other fragmental — 
materials or ejecta thrown out from volcanoes. 

Lithologic. Pertaining to lithology, or the study of rocks. (See also Petrology.) 
Pertaining to rock character. 

Lode. An ore-bearing vein (see Vein); especially a broad or complex vein. 

Loess (pronounced lurse with the r obscure). A fine homogeneous silt or loam ~ 
showing usually no division into layers and forming thick and extensive © 
deposits in the Mississippi Valley and in China. It is generally regarded as in 
part at least a deposit of wind-blown dust. . 





GLOSSARY OF GEOLOGIC TERMS. 201 


Meander. To flow in serpentine curves. <A loop in a stream. The term comes 
from the Greek name of a river in Asia Minor, which has a sinuous course. Most 
streams in flowing across plains develop meanders. (See Pl. III, A, p. 11.) 

Metamorphism. Any change in rocks effected in the earth by heat, pressure, 
solutions, orgases. A common cause of the metamorphism of rocks is the intru- 
sion into them of igneous rocks. Rocks that have been so changed are termed 
metamorphic. 

Monzonite. An even-grained intrusive igneous rock intermediate in character 
between diorite and granite. It resembles granite. 

Moraine. A mass of drift deposited by a glacier at its end or along its sides. 

Oil pool. An accumulation or body of oil in sedimentary rock that yields petro- 
leum on drilling. The oil occurs in the pores of the rock and is not a pool or 
pond in the ordinary sense of these words. 

Outcrop. That part of a rock that appears at the surface. The appearance of a 
rock at the surface or its projection above the soil. 

Paleontology. The study of the world’s ancient life, either plant or animal, by 
means of fossils. 

Peneplain. A region reduced almost to a plain by the long-continued normal ero- 
sion of a land surface. It should be distinguished from a plain produced by the 
attack of waves along a coast or the built-up flood plain of a river. 

Petrography. The description of rocks, especially of igneous and metamorphic 
rocks, studied with the aid of the microscope. 

Petrology. The study of rocks, especially of igneous and metamorphic rocks. 

Placer deposit. A mass of gravel, sand, or similar material resulting from the 
crumbling and erosion of solid rocks and containing particles or nuggets of gold, 
platinum, tin, or other valuable minerals, which have been derived from rocks 
or veins by erosion. 

Playa (pronounced plah’ya). The shallow central basin of a desert plain, in which 
water gathers after a rain and is evaporated. 

Porphyry. Any igneous rock in which certain crystal constituents are distinctly 
visible in contrast with the finer-grained substance of the rock. 

Quartzite. A rock composed of sand grains cemented by silica into an extremely 
hard mass. 

Rhyolite. A lava, usually of light color, corresponding in chemical composition to 
granite. The same molten liquid that at great depth within the earth solidifies 
as granite would, if it flowed out on the surface, cool more quickly and crystal- 
lize less completely as rhyolite. 

Schist. A rock that by subjection to heat and pressure within the earth has under- 
gone a change in the character of the particles or minerals that compose it and 
has these minerals arranged in such a way that the rock splits more easily in 
certain directions than in others. A schist has a crystalline grain roughly com- 
parable with the grain of a piece of wood. 

Sedimentary rocks. Rocks formed by the accumulation of sediment in water 
(aqueous deposits) or from air (eolian deposits). The sediment may consist of 
rock fragments or particles of various sizes (conglomerate, sandstone, shale); of 
the remains or products of animals or plants (certain limestones and coal); of the 
product of chemical action or of evaporation (salt, gypsum, etc.); or of mixtures 
of these materials. Some sedimentary deposits (tuffs) are composed of fragments 
blown from volcanoes and deposited on land or in water. A characteristic fea- 
ture of sedimentary deposits is a layered structure known as bedding or strati- 
fication. Each layer is a bed or stratum. Sedimentary beds as deposited lie 
flat or nearly flat. 

Shale. A rock consisting of hardened thin layers of fine mud. 


202 GUIDEBOOK OF THE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 


Slate. A rock that by subjection to pressure within the earth has acquired the 
property of splitting smoothly into thin plates. The cleavage is smoother and 
more regular than the splitting of schist along its grain. 

Stratigraphy. The branch of geologic science that deals with the order and rela- 
tions of the strata of the earth’s crust. 

Strike. The direction along which an inclined rock layer would meet the earth’s 
surface if that surface were level. The outcrop (which see) of a bed on a plain 
is coincident with its strike. | 

Structure. In geology the forms assumed by sedimentary beds and igneous rocks 
that have been moved from their original position by forces within the earth or 
the forms taken by intrusive masses of igneous rock in connection with effects 


produced mechanically on neighboring rocks by the intrusion. Folds (anticlines _ 


and synclines) and faults are the principal mechanical effects considered under 
structure. Schistosity and cleavage are also structural features. 

Syncline. An inverted arch of bedded or layered rock suggestive in form of a canoe. 
(See fig. 28, p. 129.) 

Talus (pronounced tay’lus). The mass of loose rock fragments that accumulates at 
the base of a cliff or steep slope. (See Pl. XXII, B, p. 166.) 

Terrace. A steplike bench ona hillside. Most terraces along rivers are remnants 
of valley bottoms formed when the stream flowed at higher levels. Other ter- 
races have been formed by waves. Some terraces have been cut in solid rock, 
others have been built up of sand and gravel, and still others have been partly 
cut and partly built up. (See Pl. XX, p. 142.) 

Till. The deposit of mingled bowlders, rock fragments, and soil left behind by a 
melting glacier or deposited about its margin. 

Tuff. A rock consisting of a layer or layers of lava particles blown from a volcano. 
A fine tuff is often called volcanic ash and a coarse tuff is called breccia. 

Type locality. The place at which a formation is typically displayed and from 
which it isnamed; also the place at which a fossil or other geologic feature is 
displayed in typical form. 

Unconformity. A break in the regular succession of sedimentary rocks, indicated 
by the fact that one bed rests on the eroded surface of one or more beds which 
may have a distinctly different dip from the bed above. An unconformity may 
indicate that the beds below it have at some time been raised above the sea 
and have been eroded. In some places beds thousands of feet thick have been 
washed away before the land again became submerged and the first bed above 
the surface of unconformity was deposited. If beds of rock may be regarded as 
leaves in the volume of geologic history, an unconformity marks a gap in the 
record. 

Vein. A mass of mineral material that has been deposited in or along a fissure in 
the rocks. A vein differs from a dike in that the vein material was introduced 
gradually by deposition from solution whereas a dike was intruded in a molten 
condition. 

Volcanic bomb. A rounded mass of lava thrown out while in a hot and pasty con- 


dition from a volcano. A bomb, like a raindrop, is rounded in its passage through ~ 


the air and may be covered with a cracked crust due to quick cooling. 

Volcanic cone. A mountain or hill, usually of characteristic conical form, built up 
around a volcanic vent. The more nearly perfect cones are composed princi- 
pally of lava fragments and volcanic ashes. 

Volcanic glass. Lava that has cooled and solidified before it has had time to crys- 
tallize. 


—S{~ 27 


eS 


a = 


——— ae 


GLOSSARY OF GEOLOGIC TERMS. 2038 


Voleanic neck. A plug of lava that formerly congealed in the pipe of a volcano. 
When the tuffs and lava flows that make up most of a volcano have been washed 
away by erosion the neck may remain as an isolated hill. 

Voleanic rocks. Igneous rocks erupted at or near the earth’s surface, including 
lavas, tuffs, volcanic ashes, and like material. 

Weathering. The group of processes, such as the chemical action of air and rain 
water and of plants and bacteria and the mechanical action of changes of tem- 
perature, whereby rocks on exposure to the weather change in character, decay, 
and finally crumble into soil. 


Pete ee 


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ILLUSTRATIONS. 


ROUTE MAP. 


For the convenience of the traveler the sheets of the route map are so folded and placed that he can 
unfold them one by one and keep each one in view while he is reading the text relating toit. A reference 
in parentheses is given in the text at each point where a new sheet should be unfolded. 


SHEET 1. 
2s 
3. 


4, 


on 


oon md 


10. 


12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
es 
18. 


19. 
20. 
ye 
22. 
23. 


24. 
25, 
26. 
27. 


SPA Toe Mme aed. ice wae op pace sn a ld = = oe bee 
St. Cloud to Verndale, Minn. (with map of Cuyuna iron range). .... 
Wadena to Hawley, Minn. (with map of western and Superior ice 
Seperate ta Perea ais J. ae Seat or sme a coils Sa ee ec 
Hawley, Minn., to Buffalo, N. Dak. (with map of glacial Lake 
SESE Sains ge loses ct eyes A RE Ae Arey i pean Se ee eI 


. Tower City to Berner, N. Dak. (with map showing moraines formed 


by the ice sheet that crossed North Dakota in Wisconsin time).... 


BRIM rer CON eMA IN DAK oes de Poco S oo ca Cae ie eer cam ne yeas 
MRE Repeat ara ct oe te bes be A ovr oes betes masa eee 
Reems ON) tO OaUetOnG. NT, DAK. oo 3-5. dee nek ee ae as eos 
mimmen to mentinel Butte, N 2Dak=:-52-2-222.). 22... 5 is eee ree es 


Beach, N. Dak., to Fallon, Mont........-. 2 eat ly Reber Sens doe 


Corre OEY fare eet By ny fag et Buia, Bs IGT at sale api og ne ea 


PUM ECOG Tet CE MIM ONG Eee ee ee eas kn eine ee Sue ve ape oe 
mere EITC Sh OTN ee es Noles oe is ne elec ewe Sess 
cn PSA Tes IGT sorter eh a re 
eenmmmtenConiral se ative MON igi -ueeroce orice ot ose o> ee 2 
Pre oattar Co OVUalr eh Ol beteen eee oe ee ees kei Se ees 
err GOULLISLON SIN Olt eee 625 sion = a ws oo ee ob oS ae ed wo ole oe 
Warm Springs to Clinton, Mont. (with map of western Montana show- 

ing distribution of known Tertiary lake beds). ......-..--------- 
Turah to Weeksville, Mont. (with map of glacial Lake Missoula). ... 
Mddy,Mont., to Hope, Idaho... .--..--. 2220-202 eet eee ee 
Oden, Tdaho, to Spokane, Wash............------- +0 +2 +e eee eee 
Berra p te liz Ville VW ablien cee eo. Oe a ey a ie ccle s om cee a seme 
Essig to Vale, Wash. (with map of the great lava plateau of Columbia 

SP OF aig eg OS Soa eo eres oe rs ae 
Eltopia to Mabton, Wash. .......---------+------ 2-22 e cence eee eee 
Empire to Wymer, Wash.....-....----------- Ot Na ae nee ae a. 
emer estore WW OB apes cee oe ss eee ase sess 
Lester to Seattle, Wash. (with map showing depth of water in Elliott 

“LCG, LEAR A AI Te Meer ra ae ce 


205 


Page. 
20 
26 


32 


40 


44 
46 
54 
60 
64 
68 
72 
78 
82 
86 
98 
112 
126 


134 
144 
152 
160 
164 


168 
172 
176 
186 


196 


206 


Puate I. 


Ble 
1aGE 


iv. 


V3 
Vie 


VLEs 
VALLI: 
1B-& 
XxX. 
8.0 
»-Gile 
S.GRAE. 
XIY. 
XV. 
XVI. 
DoViL. 


XVIII. 
XIX. 


XX. 
XXI. 
»:@.4 2 IF 
XXITI. 


XXIV. 


XXYV. 


XXVI. 
XXVIT. 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PLATES. 


Relief map showing surface features of the western part of the United 
Minnehaha, *‘ Laughine Water”. ......--.-+..+s<0s6 seen seen 
A, Valley City, N. Dak., from the ‘‘high line”’; B, The ‘“‘high line” 
across the valley of Sheyenne River, N. Dak.................... 
A, Badlands in the vicinity of Mandan, N. Dak.; B, Cracks produced 
by the burning of a bed of lignite.........-. 2.20 5c<ee eee 
A, B, Erosion forms of North Dakota.-............:: scp eee 
A, Silicified stump in Pyramid Park, N. Dak.; B, The ‘‘prow of the 
battleship,’’ one of the buttes of Pyramid Park, N. Dak.......... 
A, View of the badlands of North Dakota; B, A bed of lignite 15 feet 
thick in the canyon of. Little Missouri River, N. Dak............ 


A, B, Views of the badlands of North Dakota..................... 
A-D, Views of the badlands of North Dakota and Montana.......... 
The great Triceratops, which in Lance time roamed through the for- 
ests of Montana and North;Dakota..-..-..... 2.2, A. - see 
A, Bluffs of Lance formation on Yellowstone River west of Hysham, 
Mont.; B, Fossil palm leaf of Eocene age found near Hysham, 
Mote oci.5 55S a diel wiser pw pielin stata pes RA pepe en 
A, B, Views in the sheep range of Montana: ......J5..4 ,sussneeeee 
A, Pompeys Pillar, Mont., as seen from the Northern Pacific Rail- 
way; B, Inscription made by Capt. Clark on Pompeys Pillar, 
July 25, 1806...2....-:22+ sda p6 034 2 eels Dae cree a 
Emigrant Peak, the sentinel guarding the northern approach to 
Yellowstone Park.....2.. 22. s2ss+ceeseue be ober ey: eee 
Rocky gateway which Rock Creek has cut through the Madison 
limestone below Chestnut, Mont... .......22. 2-105 4.65 =n 
View looking west from Homestake summit, Mont.................- 
Silver Bow Canyon, Mont:. 2... .2ccd2. 02.20. a weiay cee a 
Cliffs of Madison limestone at Lombard, Mont................<----- 
A, Summer camp of the Flathead Indians, a familiar scene in the 
Jocko Valley, Mont.; B, Glacier on the north slope of McDonald 
Peak, Monts. tose: 2a Sank ee. epee peeps eke ee 
View down Flathead River from Knowles, Mont..................-- 
Cabinet Gorge, Idaho... 0222.22.20 -e aes ee | 2 
A, White Bluff of the Columbia, 20 miles above Pasco, Wash.; B, 
Columnar lava at Cactus siding, 5 miles south of Connell, Wash... 
Mount Adams, as seen from the Northern Pacific trains near Toppen- 
ish, Wash... i. se.deusiyachtaneetaeeabeczes Bowe oo 
A, Yakima Canyon, Wash.; B, Columnar andesite near Yakima 
Canyon, Wash... 2.22222 28 22% 02s ckipvin mii ae oe 
Beautiful Lake Keechelus, Wash... ..~..:..<-5- sc. ce- ee ee 
The almost impassable tangle of a Washington forest 
Mount Rainier, ‘‘monarch of the Cascades,’’ as seen from the boule- 
vard on the shore of Lake Washington, Seattle, Wash............ 


Lae 


Page. 


ee 


52 


53 
a 
62. 
62 
63 


74 


75 
76 


Ts 


90 


91 
106 
107 
118 


4 


119 
142 
143 . 


166 


167 


174 


175 
194 


ee ey 


FiauRE 1. 


13. 


14. 
15. 


16. 
We gs 


18. 
19. 


20. 
21. 
22. 
23. 


24. 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


FIGURES. 


Section across Mississippi Valley between St. Paul and Fort Snell- 
SAMOA ESD ee geen Ua Ven ns minal Voce ona s shan 


. Diagram showing northward rise of the rocks in the vicinity of 


NTE tA TC set Ae tok c= J as Bia apc ke ke oie be eg sie ore 


. Diagram showing probable origin of many kettle holes..........- 
meetin butialo hiver delta, Minn. 2... 022. be ec sede eee 
. Section of Herman beach ridge west of Magnolia, N. Dak. ....... 
Se eee eee Dos saw be hie 43.5 sin Sees Ka doe an 
meaeramo. Glendive anticline, Mont: .... 2.25.6. Je.+- 208 leees-- 
. Sun-bleached skull near Miles City, Mont....................... 
. Diagram showing the thinning out and coming in of formations 


from Black Hills, S. Dak., to Billings, Mont: -..-.....-.-..-...- 


. Monument built by sheep herder........--------- rec ene a ae 
. Eagle sandstone north of Park City, Mont..............-.-.....-- 
. Cross section to illustrate the change in the formations between 


fee rane sh Ie Oli MON bet. cite hata s = en oak x o'= Oa nd wie w- 
Cross section showing the rim of the mountains south of Livingston, 


Diagram showing the structure of Cinnabar Mountain, Mont...... 
Dike cutting coal bed and sill intruded in a position to affect the 
NGG ie CUal rea es eek oo see np nan = te oa wer ae 
Vertical fold in Madison limestone west of Chestnut, Mont....-.... 
Upturned Madison limestone and associated rocks, forming the 
Pere eerste! WMONt he ate Seas Ue Lee ee eRe acest e223 
Southeast side of the great synclinal basin north of Logan, Mont.. 
Diagram to explain the course of Jefferson River west of Willow 
OS oT Ae, BS eee SSE 2 a gee pe 
Section of great anticlinal fold near Lime Spur, Mont ............ 
Perneanre or TALC, Porc n homes re a sede Satie ee eee 
Diagram of Continental Divide east of Butte, Mont...........--- 
Diagrams illustrating the ways in which the broad valleys of the 
Rocky Mountain region were formed...........--------------- 
Sections along Northern Pacific Railway between Durant and 
Drummond, Mont., showing probable mode of formation of Deer 
«1h Br) TS Sie le aN Se a a oe ee os 


. Section between Logan and Trident, Mont.........-.--- oe At oe 
Bee etotd at rident,- MOonteds <. 4-08. -- 62s wee eels ne oe 
. Fold and fault in the rocks near Lombard, Mont............-..-.-- 
. Diagram of fold west of Drummond, Mont.......--..---..---- bt 
. Horizontal beach lines on Mount Jumbo, as seen from railway sta- 


Mpa eNinsiU Ane VON Get ent oe cc latigie eos sais aides pisiefeiSis oom ss 


mNorms| taulta and overthrust fault... 24... fsa. - ose ees 
. Great folds in the rocks between Plains and Thompson Falls, Mont . 
. Profile of mountain slope east of Sandpoint, Idaho. ...-.-. Ree ee 
. Cross-bedding in glacial gravel on Latah Creek 1 mile west of 


POR AMCANV ASI. 2 Jane oa cle so es be caus sede t= caine wee 


. Island of gneiss or schist in the lava near Marshall, Wash... .---. 
. Section of Yakima Valley east of Prosser, Wash...........------- 
Mil tre igs t TOTLO. OF LWOZA)) WASNS on oe Fak ose os Glo Snes as Se 
. Section showing structure of Yakima basalt north of Ellensburg, 


Peer OE re Pe ey hg We BS RN EDS eye ON a ai chee 4 awe Ae Wissen 2 


. Section showiny size and shape of the valley of Green River below 


Eagle Gorge, Wash., compared with the valley the river aban- 
doned when it was blocked by ice........ Na PR ee of eee 


207 


Page. 
EL 


17 
29 
34 
39 
58 
68 
70 


75 
77 
83 


84 


89 
93 


95 
96 


98 
99 


101 
102 
104 
107 


112 


115 
116 
117 
118 
129 


134 
143 
144 
152 


160 
161 
170 
176 


179 







- 7 ey 4, a a © ee - : 
ee =! Ay * oa Bin: a f 7 7 we ri ¢ 7 V4 f z 
a? ao ee - Pee) mn ces 7 ee a 
- ; : =% ' - 4 =. A ee 7 << —\ c 4 = i iy : 
TIO A re i 
a : “ » © ; Aa? % 7 . aX “= 


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ae SRA a 
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A OD a teda ‘ eft» ina i =a > ar 8 or ‘i ty 


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na bog nA PF 24967 See, 


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F A 
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oie wha) 4 484s ONS a 
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a o Sa c ; 4059 th lek ci: mS ~ AS 
* : wi : * om 
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Hoy degen ee, al Ot hee ee pie ee ie 
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INDEX OF RAILROAD STATIONS. 


A. Page. Sheet. 
OA ee oo Sale sc ccce cence tes 23 
B00 5 eh 26 2 
Fo if re 172 25 
2S AS Ce 21 
2, re 65 10 
RMN EDIE ABe idee yes meta Sinan dix’ e ee 2 i 10 
RENE AR oo a ee see eee 55 8 
LO OE ee 5 
TA SS "1S i he is 
Bes oN tS ne 17 1 
PO MeMIDOI I a aK 5.05.0 2s ceene- esse 58 8 
Apple Urea IN. Dak...-.....2........ 7 
AME CE EIR Gs See aie dn Die a ning ese 27 
Ls ae a 138 19 
ON gf 0 155 21 
FL ae Vo So 1 a 191 27 
See OM MINIT. oa eee nase 31 3 
Oka ie 2 ars 124 17 
ON Eo a le 126 18 

5. 
OP ae 22 
Es Oe 24 
BRIE MMMASTT eg bial cies a o's oe wd oa we 1 
OE UO ee 26 
ADE Ss 63 10 
Bearmouth, Mont..... a OT ee 130 18 
ES OE a ae 23 
Ree SW 10 
EO Se 18 1 
a Se ae 120 17 
PPGHUME IN PARAMS bho ess accesses ces 61 9 
BreintaOen MONG: 22.2... 2o8.2- cee ce cess 98 15 
OO GS a ee 20 
EO BOS ee 5 
PO DS es 44 5 
OPE ae 18 i 
Bee MLOUG. 56.050. sco - sens 86 14 
RS ae 78 12 
OE ee 81 13 
Uo 123 17 
OT oe ESI Gr 51 7 
ESO ia ee C0 27 
a 131 
ss by 11 
OL Ra 0S 5 
OL Go 124 17 
Le OO S28 LD i 8 
bg gt Os) 2 rc 26 3 
AU ae a 133 18 
OR a ee 133 19 
Bene Werle ses), 0.2- iyicc...2c52-% 26 
RE OD RI Se oie! koe Save os 8 


95558°—Bull. 611—15 14 











Page. 
WOZOUIAU SMONGs ser. oss aus ene doe 96 
TGHGROtUeIN | UGK oct oka os edawoed 
PREIMAGWeeMe ONC. eae ces soe a cekans 
pN eph ge N's a Sat ac ae Ra 
STIS I MG atria. woes se'd org 90 
PS TISUGLED VV SEL rine eS Se og 179 
ital Ne aks 2 2 oe. i cel ee 40 
uu Mountain. Mont...ic¢.. 20.5 eae 78 
TAGElOig repre OKs. 0s, eee A eee: 
FAROE MIGO a. ne er se, Coe es Soe 107 
PUTO NM MRL eee stor. Ah. as ae a 171 

C. 

Grugiiety Idaho sno. 5 Godin ease 150 
Caple, Minn’ ota. o.,. weenie aes ate 19 
Cup URS. ok Won oe oe. one oe 166 
COueiis MOnt gr oo) seoege ee os 125 
RAI WOLLMAOD Ds Se fags oka ek cee ene 104 
aXe yWOOd, JOANGs.258 2 es cecum teen ce 
AINE MED G oot oa Ny cial ala asa wie 
MIQUICLiOTs Bu TIA ay fo 2 ae cals sc ait oats 38 
[2 OPES is a ae eee aan mea 
Cepttal Park MOMti cs. 0.03.62 o.0+5+ sues 98 
SE EN OY ee ee A 
RMN OE WMA SIDE So. oc Su a basco cteews 
CO Oe TOS a Od 6 Bee 162 
HGS MONG... . oce>. as-seecenesous 96 
Pic BTE Tg awe.) £0) brag re ae ae eee eet 90 
(late Hote (abo st 2g oe eon ae 151 
CtarkstoneMOUt co.0 52 ona e so ont eek 12 
CieAII IAS VRS Sop ons eae tacts ee 180 
COB Ane A ithe shi ee oe cg ere 19 
Ciermonty Monte... 2.22 aes eos 
Cléveland aN. Dake 3b eee. sac 08 45 
CUDGOU AMONGE cout nce notes eakisa ee: 133 
Clough Junction, ‘Monts ..22. 225... 123 
Clg We MORE to. nessa tee eee vee 
Cocolaliaaidakg se: Sluts fo kis 154 
COTE IV OSU beet ease cee nt wea ee 
Colgate ion ie saeco rece an wma oe 
COMMS MONS. 6, oiet can een eed ve 84 
Concord, W880. .s.<b.~issepecce tis fe 
Conlin Mont... .vn). tes cohev cea pene 
Connell, \Washs< tee 1-525: 26- dies be oe 166 
Geon Creck, Mitr. .e seston oe ee 17 
Corwin Springs, Mont..4:...%.26i22-%: 92 
Covington, Wash....... er ae eaten aaa 190 
Orystal Sprimes. IN. Dak <2. 3443-535. 46 
Ciuntingham sy ashe. t2..952.o.220u.< 
GUTIOW ) NepL cess nism tee ees pote! 
COTE MOU Ts se srure mets i 555 w ewes 
AOS EUS So mee ae Sten 3 ok wae 24 
UDI MOLE tau ace ie gioco he hse a cine 78 


Sheet. 
15 
5 
18 
16 
15 
26 
4 
13 
7 
16 
24 


20 
1 
23 


16 
21 
15 

4 
11 
15 
10 
24 
22 
15 
15 
20 
16 
26 

d 
8 

6 
18 


17 
21 
22 
10 
14 
22 
16 
23 

LT 
15 
27 

6 
23 

& 
10 

2 
12 


210 


Di Page. 
Datleys) Mont ses a ee eee eee 91 
Dale; Minnsi) pe tees eee eee eee 
Darling; Minti ve seeee eee 
DaWwsonaING Dak ae oo cece eee eee 46 
Dayton, Mini s0-. 0) = eee 18 
De Smet .Moute cose ae eee oe 137 
Deer Lodge, Monts. 222) ae ee pets 
Dehart, Monte eiae.. noe eee ee 
DemoressN2Dakae cere eee ae ee 63 
Dempsey Monta. eee eee 
Denton; [daho coe see ee eee 
Detroit; MinnsS2.\.. oe eae ee eee 30 
Dewey, Monte. 3. -2).2eeee = ee 
Dickson, NeD ake eee. see eee 60 
Dilworth Minne eee eee eee nee 30 
Dixony Monte stereo. yee. Sao eee 140 
Dons NNDal woe. ney eee ees 
Dopelius, Minn....-.- eee eh hee 
Dower Lake, Minna. .22eeee ooeceee eee 
Driscoll (Ne Wak? cet cee soe eee ee 46 
Drummond, Monteeee-- oe 129 
Dudley, Wash. acectees eee eee eee 
Durant, Montero eee eee eee lil 

E. 
Haple Gorse, Washes ssc ae acee ae eee 186 
Hagles West, Nias Sosa seen 
Bast Helenk (Montecen-- es 26 eee 121 
BaSton,,.Wias lee cs seen en oe a eee 182 
Eekelsonuy NN Dakr a. .teeeeee alee ee eee 43 
day. MOntvens assent eestor oe ae. 144 
PANG SN Dakice ts cms bitte oe es 
PldridcorN sD ale ean cee ore eee ee 45 
plectate, Montes 5:22. See AN See 3 
BIKAR ivere ini. Serres peer ee 18 
Phonspune eWieashest eet cece Aces Lid 
Hilistons Monte <-7<ts bec set itt eee 126 
Peltor Monten eee oe EGE eee Se 
EitOpla SyVviasiie teaser peste ee Seer 168 
Emery Waste, © tense eee 
Pmigrant Montes soe scene ee eee 91 
Bimpires Washes) Saeeecnee wer seeriee 172 
Erie W aSheeee nt ct eee ee eee 
Hissigs Wash: 2G 22 seen oo eee ee ers 165 
Hustis, .Mont.s2% 2=sseeset ap eee ee 
Evaro, Mont xcc2eg ii s02 nose aoe 137 

F: 
Fallon M Ont. eee ce ae ae eee 68 
Farzvo, NoDak 4c. .- peace eee eee 36 
Fife, N.- Dalian. itso. 
Pancht $M OMT 2 see eye eae eee a ee 76 
Fishivap, WV aelic:. 32:5.) Pa eee 163 
Flathesd, Mont. Gace e se eee 
Forsyth, Motit;. se tc eee sce 75 
Fort Keogh, Monts a: .< es-es. ce eae 70 
Fort Snelling, Minn........ ie Soe 10 
Foster. Mont... Saaeesseoes: oe ae ee eee 
Frates,- Minn.” ..3. J avert. 55204 0c 30 
Prost, Mont 5 goseeeec t  ee 144 
Enybure, N2Dalkieen eee ean eee 61 
Furlong, Mowe spe a. atu eet ne ee 

Gs 
Gardiner; Montes =<: tt... en 5 Sones Ot 
SfOrrisOn,: Mons oo 25 oe eee eee 115 
Gonboys, No DSE. 3220 cun sea oee oe Bee 


Sheet. 


i 
Co 


— 
THO W DO SO HO 


_ 
7.3) 


26 


22 
19 
12 
11 


13 


20 


INDEX OF RAILROAD STATIONS. 


Page 
Gibbon, Wash. .....<2esec-ce eee 
Glade, Wash... .....2.2.2k -- eee ee 
Gladstone, N..Dak...2cs¢.4 1 cee 59 
Glendive, Mont: . . #222.s0->s ae 65 
Glenullen, N. Dak: ¥.32,.-28<cceeneeee 56 
Glyndon, Minn . 3... 9)5-2-2 eee 35 
Gold Creek » Mont 2322.02 ae oe 128 
Gordon, Mont .....7.2. 3.52255 
Granite, Idaho.......<4-.--4.: ae 154 
Gregory, Minn... ...¢.. 82 =.5—0 see 21 
Gregson, Mont: <.. J: ganas eee é 
Greycliff; Mont. .=..22.07.-.es eee 86 
H. 
Hackney, Mont >). .c-22 ica. oeeeeeeene 
Hagegart, N: Daki2...2..2-50 ae 
Haskell; Motit.:...5.2.<24..dien sees 
Hathaway, Mont:. <-<.222 202 eae 72 
Hatton, Wash....c...522 aeacuc Sees 
Hauser, Idaho... - 22. ess seme eee 155 
Hawley, Minn.:. . icc .2oceeu eee 31 
Hebron, N. Dak....2..e--=- eee eee 58 
Heckman, Mont. --< 4.2... sc. ee ueeeeee 
Helena, Mont. ss. vs ss2.soe.e5 ae 121 
Hell Gate, Mont..2.c. 2.2 suse ee 
Henry, Wash... 2c 2:-.-52-op eee 
Heron, Mont..\¢.. 22-)-i\s vu oe oe 149 
Hillside; Wash. . - J... see eee 
Hobart, IN Dakees sss. 2 nee ee eee 
Hodges, Montoy. ..2.:<t a ecueeee 65 
Homestake, Mont.......-.--t=sese= eee 106 
Hope, 1dahoo. 22.2... oe 151 
Hoppers, Mont. 2..5< «ite. 20-54n eee 
Horton, Mont:c: 5. 2c. 5-2 -- ee eee 
Hot Springs, Wash ....52..445.s ees 186 
Howard, Mont: 2:2: 21. 5223532 Seen 76 
Hoyt, Mont..:\:.¢:.253523 22 68 
Humphrey; Wiashecns on ose eee 186 
Huntley," Mont .c.u.2:. eet eee 80 
Hysham, Mont...2<...22.26--csseeeeme 77 
LE 
Indio; W ashi. ss. <2+<-ns'scca eee eee 
Tona, Mont..5...... 225 s00%eaa-eee 
Irvin; Wash’... cic... 22 cease eee 159 
J. 
Jamestown, N. Dak. :..236s.5aeeeeeeee 44 
Joppa, Mont..'s... is22cede gee ae ee 72 
Jordan, Mont...) 1232 Se2aee eee 
Judson, Ny Dak’ :<..sc5ce00 meee eee 53 
K. 
Kanaskat, Wash.....<0.05 00 goes eee 189 
Kamm, Mont... <.v.s:s-cs0t = eee 
Kennedy, Wash... .--.... cose eso eee 
Kennewick, W ash ..--...:s.00es5eseene 169 
Kent, Wash. 2.165. 2.0e ue aoe ee 193 
Keystone, Wash... ......ceeesseeee meee 
Kildee, Mont. ....2...5 See 146 | 
Kiona, Wash .....6.-sess0se-00- eee 170 
Kline, Washi. 2:0 2% -<2, 22sec 
Knife River, N. Dak. p22 .. ese 
Knowles) Mont. .5-2.2. sees ee 
Kohrs, Mont... -s5. 825 en ee yaa 
Kootenai, Idaho... 2 25 s5esaece eee 
Kountze, Wash..::2...: +462 eee 


Kurtz, NoDakwzc. esas de esse ae eee 







Sheet. 
24 

24 

8 

10 

8 4 


INDEX OF RAILROAD STATIONS. 


L. Page. 
Bi hp ON ee ee oe 
1 51S Nala de Sr 31 
PO ee ee are 82 
De OS oe swe sos Soon eee vo 59 
Fo a ers 
El ih 186 
BN ee 
III Go ooo on wos = os os xvi 103 
Tamers pur, Mont_.-.2..-2.----..< 
Bice (fo, tae AS ee ae 24 
Dee 2-8 os --2-sn- 165 
BO ete a 22 
preston MlONGs.. 2.25 <2 e..0555:2--526- 88 
PaO MONG. 005... 2-542 -+-2-42-- = 
PIPE GUID Ae. toes. 22 025.5252 o ees 99 
BTC) CTC IG ie eee 118 
Tiewale MONG) =... 20. 6s n-s0 25 -- 
Ree See es ns 5 28 
Be SURRY. bid DN ce 
M. 
PO CC ee 171 
PPP MIAN We ONE 2 oo. 2S occ s cree xe 140 
OEP raNattty ers 2 nee a atic 
BY iG Sal Ne od, saga a 49 
MACH OLIC MeN SOAK socks hess -sc-- cee 39 
MATE IN ea Ke oS... cin ca ee os 52 
PM STII a NL OINL ee oc. jeicc ott)< - none 98 
Manitoba Junction, Minn.............. 31 
fy TAOS RG AO i ana 38 
TN Ee EN HOy Tt Pe tS eee a ee a 68 
MMERTIAIL AVY OMENS <a otscac c2 eee oes 161 
pO ORS oe aa ae a 184 
ECW OOM MI VV ASL rs Sor end sate 186 
BradbureNe ake. 2.5. 2.0.2 sak 's= 45 
ME QOTA IN OK. cies = So aee oe Fees rele. 62 
AS See 85 
UT al 167 
MEAG ye OU Get. oasis sos a ck seh aes 70 
1 92 
At ae 16 
Minnehaha Falls, Minn...............- 10 
ANTS AOS ORE ee ea en 
PRR ISSMOM PA Olio: 25-2) - eos a Jo< ss 88 
Missoula, Mont..-..-- iM Rie caine seer ee 134 
SMART eter sees ers Sas tla. sio mje:0 Sei a 
MMRGELO EUV ASIP cA nant A ws abe ole Sicie ain 
PACER ICH CIENT DIT hae oye fe cece ans tek se 35 
RRM RANI Sec aw Ole 41m 5 5.3.0.0 nus 95 
YS Eee a 
PE es 
CO PS on a 241) 
N. 
WE NUNN oe a ee a ele 
OE GO a ere 
TOC CASE erp (ad BE Qa a a 54 
enw pore atilis, Minn... 0...-..-2-.-- Be 
SDI AMEE OMG Soy Som = os nea ais os es = 79 
ET 
Oe SS Rt ee 
erius \ eins, Wash... .-.02-.2.-2.2.. 174 
SRS ROSEY RTOS: 0 = hea stsids Sons o's toni 149 
O. 
SUR os (Uc 
eMC IN A acs dgc.d = seh ne «63 he 
MET IIRC ler Sigs > aaecn'd ew ga foe 152 


Sheet. 


13 


27 
26 
7H | 


bo 


23 


15 
13 
16 
16 
17 


me 
oO 


Re De mon ee — e hoe monn — 
Re Ook OF OOR KRY rR ORF wR DOAN DHNORWAAOAN FP NW 


Page. 
PORIGS BLOWS accuse toean ee aw be nites 
EE ot BI BON ese te oa Sale A Si 41 
PEW AS LONG: feo Seale cchate cee ae ce 
Posteri, MONG) Wate 6t ce ee eee 2 
EWES, NDA er asst Seni eee coe 
CGS VV OSD eyeee mee een ae ae pass 
PINE TAANO sou ona hota cee 
de 
BELLE NW aS Loy het ete erate ote. ae ae Pe 1€5 
Palmer Junenone sas. oo mene ee 189 
RAR ACISO MLO Ue tome ce cots aera een 142 
Sark City mM On Gers. sc ec coee eee eee 83 
IDEMIeIns WiaSians eetee on cn, Pee aes 173 
Panwa Lona VWioSils 2915) 2 a = » see 
MASCOM VY ASli eae eee eh Mee cr 168 
PAabCU AMON ter ek ete a: Loose ices 
Perham Man. ae srotae soso ae wera 27 
HeLa MONG SL sees sree eee saat ae 141 
He Hal DROGKsM INet oe nae eee Sass eleye 25 
Pinestaire y MOM bec ects 0a 1a eee 105 
PACER MOT Gs Steer ea te ee oa a eee 
PLAINS | MONt tee otees peck chert ere 143 
OTMONA A VV. cs Listers os sin ae Se ers, Seer me 
Bompeyoubwlan. Monts: = se a eee 79 
BrosSere WiGsil Ss se estes ae apa ne 171 
Providence, Wash.2ic aces a o22cqe0 wees 165 
Q. 
Quebec) Monts. sees cc eee. tee ones 
4, R. 
TACO eRraGkeNLOMUs42ece et em ianane somo. 114 
EUAIMSO ve LOAROL. see oa sees fears 155 
PUaAn Cer MOTD me eeeei eam seis keene oie 76 
LSet ENS TUE oc Meehan Meee er Pe ea 23 
ala Rel ss Nivel) cies ares, Sha eens ate vote 
AGS se elLOl be ete fecmine stot se eee ee 
Jgechelolebabhan).s) Net Nove pe Se apt Soe eee 155 
TRSes Vie U MLCT Peseta eee eS Sere cee, ce 138 
UAV ONSAALG: Was iosts cis cel ees ive 189 
TROVE ING Zee. tee crete 2s tim ence aes 
Riecde hot sMOnGscer <> eee ee ent 85 
POLAND SO MONG: enti. om does eee ee 
Re yHoOlds eMont ees cee eemee se msec 
GLOOM VLITLIRS seer ne hee eee ee tee et ere oe 21 
ich ard tOnsNey baka wc me ese 59 
ELiendale: Mint «20. shame a coat no 
TRL Z Valle VAS ec ame ei ew ve 164 
PROMOS WSU ete ae els oamniseitah oa selee 
OSeDUde M Ontecceae ce cece Seen =e ae 72 
IECOSS MONG sas ot= siatsre tS ctets cere ial so sie = 
PO VAIO, DLO 2 0G. a-eawteigew sas. oae cor 21 
OZ aid weet set eet erste eee 176 
RUUD Va BSD ee ceeiseste cea ste. bis 5 meee 165 
Ss. 
SALERIOOl mW AS lace je peace sen ae ns 
STacloudseMinn sae cserce scl se eon ae 20 
Spaeth MIM Ne aoe ore oe ot as 8,15 
OEE ag) BC cg NO 5 Sie hee a Le 
DAT DOLD we Se LIANG Mrs See sure Aol erred lalate 43 
Sanclers VOM peas secs sen. ve tee ken 77 
SANG POM Ca NOw eae eee a cfels ose = are 2 152 
Ra DINe GON fF OLON Go anak css aco. tare 102 
SA TUOL LLM epde taoes okie ale ols chasielets 
ERGO AME ee Opi ae ae ee 172 


PAT SoA aa 08 PPG hn ee ee 20 


211 


Sheet. 
14 

5 

18 

13 

6 

21 

20 


23 
27 
19 
14 
25 
21 
24 
14 

3 
19 

2 
16 
Ney 
19 
25 
13 
24 
23 


14 


18 
21 
12 


14 
21 
19 
27 
12 
14 
16 


Oo bw 


22 
24 
12 
16 


25 
23 


212 


Page. 
Schley, Montewse=>. = sep oe eee eee 
Scorias Nc Dakeeetntec nce eae eee 61 
Seattio< Wass oo cc bone eos see eee 194 
Sedalia Ny (Dak: <. ct. or vache eee 
Selah; Washo 72%. 2.2.3 Bee eee 176 
pentinel Butte, N..Dak. ov20.s-.- sees 63 
Shirley-; Monts. sco. eee eee eee 
Shoshkin, \Wash:ctoscess tedees ee eeeae 
Bitton) Ns Dake casos. deers oat ce oe 
Silver Bow; Mont...--2ee2 ee eee 111 
Sims; N.Daki 3 225.es eee eee eee 55 
Skones; Mottts..0...3-seeerae es ee 
Skyline, Mont..c25 icc, aoe ogee 
Smeads; Monts2s282 Sate eee eee 
South: HeartsNy Dakeeeeres ss see e eee 60 
Southdown Nn, Dakine. oe oe eeeee 
Sphing; Montes sso: Sart oaeeear 
Spite Rock, Montince see 105 
Spiritwood, No Dalkycc aise ee df 
Spokane; Wasia-essco.k ewe ee 160 
Sprague; Wash...) 24... ee eee 164 
Springdale, Monts: 3.262. 22 <r ee 86 
Stampede; “Wash . cece sek so Bees 184 
Staples; Minn 222.2 -eesceee tena eee 25, 
Steele, NeDakoo nes wwe ekactaee ee ee 46 
Sterling ING Dakss cea. oeee eee ee 48 
Stockwood; Minn 22 i... sense eee 35 
DUOrey,,, MONG ete eee cao eee eee 
Stuart, Mont..cccecse cece: ot a eeeree 111 
Sully Springs, N. Dako. .:,..9.c1.eteee 61 
Sunnyside Junction, Wash............ 
Sweevpriel IN; Dak. s.. cj caueoos ates 

tis 

Talmagen Washes 2.22 nso Seer = oeen ke 
Tapper Ne aR aret 2 sana) ae bon oun beat 46 
Taylor Novels. oo eer eae cee 
TeAnaway, Wass, <2 ones ee taes 179 
"Terry, Monae cai eae. ay eae ences 69 
‘Rhorp, Vass... dase eae bese 178 
Thompson Falls, Mont................ 145 
Thrall, Washr2. <2, 555.<coeeawee. seen 177 
Threeforks; Mont. c.20:5. cbeeteese eee 100 
‘Tokio, Washs sa7c62005. neers eee 
Doppenish, Wash: ses c.. «<8eh ca eeeee 172 
Toston, Montittsc-she.c. cae ae eee 119 
Tower City, .N. Dakz.2c.. cas) eee 41 
Townsend, Mont</s.5552<-0. ssneeueee 119 
Trail Creek? Monts: ui..dceeveeegree 
Triderit; Mont 3.3 suv hasta eee ree 117 


Sheet. 


Lo 
0 
27 
7 
29 
9 
11 
26 
6 
16 
8 
16 
17 
20 
9 
6 
15 
16 
5 
21 
22 
14 
26 
2 
6 
7 
4 
15 
16 
9 
25 
7 


26 
6 
8 

26 

11 

26 

20 

26 

16 

22 

25 

16 
5 

17 

15 

16 


O 


INDEX OF RAILROAD STATIONS. 


Page. 

Trout Creek, Mont... i. 125.00 seeae 148 
Turah, Mont... ...,-.:s_s2¢o" Sane 
Tuscor, Mont... .--2 22.0. cesne eee 
Tusler, Mont....;...2..0cecssee eee 
Tyler, Wash........ 2-<8.00 eu ane 162 

LA 
Ulmer, Mont... 34-5... 3-6e0 a eee 
Urbana, N. Dak..:.- 2.7. pean eeneeeee 

Vea 
Vale, Wash... ... ..¢2sam-0 ce eee 
Valley City, N. Dak..2..2...0. 2 eee 42 
Velox, Wash. .......:. 225 acs 
Vermilion, Mont....2.....4 4.16) -aeee 
Verndale, Minn.;....:.......2sce eee 26 
Vista, Wash, 0... 0..>20eh40 0 en 169 

Ww. 
Waco, Mont. 2.0222.) 2. oe see 78 
Wadena, Minn... 7.2222. 22e eee 26 
Waldon, N. Dak... sea 
Wapato, ; Wash. ..-.2:2.2. 2p eeeeee 173 
Warm Springs, Mont... <2. 2.02, paaaeeee 113 
Watab, Minn... .... 7: -.22). eee eee 
Watago, Mont. ... 2... .-2:.42.5 ope ‘ 
Weeksville, Mont... 22.22.2209 eee 144 
Welch, Mont. .i2..-. eee ee 
West End? Mont. 229.220. 2s.) eee 
Westmond, Idaho........ 242-4. ae 
Weston, Wash...-2...:.. 2.0.4... ae 
Wheatland, N. Dak. 3.2... 2) pee 39 
White Pine, Mont... :.7..... oe eee 
Whitehall, Mont... .0,..:.. ecu use 105 
Wibaux,,Mont.. 2... 20. ues een 64 
Willis, Mont. 7° -. <2. 225m aan 
Willow Creek, Mont........-2.5. seen 101 
Windsor, N. Dak. .\2 3222235 2 eee 45 
Winston, Monte >... 5.2..0.g2 e000 eee 120 
Woodlin, Mont. <.cite.fe05 dene eee 
Worden, Mont.t« sic: 2..05379 2 eee 
Wymier, Washo. 2.302.620. cee eee 176 

Ye 
Yakima, Wash..:.-::2.22052e02 nee 174 
Yates, Mont. 2.22.5 .2.0 5 22322oeeeeeeee 
Yegen; Monts .:.i¢ 1 ee Oe 
Youngs Point, Mont... .::.222252.5seee 83 
Z. 
Zenith, N. Dik 
Zero, Monte.) 20.5200. oss cas ee ee 


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